As an experiment, I took down my gaming table, removed all the giant maps, cleared everything off, plopped down a large monitor, and hooked up a computer. I also managed the cables to make it all look nice.
I left room for books and a dice tray, but no physical maps or figures were on the table - just the monitor and computer. I then fired up Roll20 and used that as my "game table" on the computer.
I mostly play solo, so giving up my game table for another "computer workstation" was a radical change. But I promised myself no "PC gaming" here; this is just a virtual game table setup, as if I were streaming and DM-ing from this table. This is why I left a lot of empty room on the table, no knick-knacks, no piles of notebooks, no figures, and no clutter.
I have a part of the table reserved for books I use during play. On the other side of the table, I have one dice tray with a premium set of dice, in case I want to roll something off VTT from a table in a book or check my yes/no oracle dice. Nothing else goes on this table.
One monitor. One laptop. A mouse and mousepad.
The rest of the 60x30 table is empty for gaming books and dice, as I need them. I clear it off when I'm not playing a game and put it on a shelf.
During the session, I limited my computer apps to my music player, Roll20, the windows it can spawn, and my PDF reader. This computer just needs to run a webpage, so it did not need to be anything fancy—just a machine that works well enough and can get my session running. I uninstalled programs that distract me, compete for time, or give me "other fun things to do." Social media use is not allowed on this machine during my play time.
I embraced "distraction-free gaming" and kept it simple. Like Shadowdark's rules design, I tossed out anything I did not need or that distracted from the experience.
It feels strange to use Roll20 as a solo gamer, and I know, find a group! But in the odd times I play, having something that 'saves my game" and provides a log of everything that happened last session is invaluable.
I also like Roll20 since it is more than "just D&D." This gives me a VTT and character sheets for many games, and I can also "wing it" if I want and just play without official character sheets. You can't buy GURPS or have "official support" on Roll20, but there is a good community-created character sheet, and it is not hard to make it work well on this system.
It also feels strange to use the dropdown to set "my current player" or even "set myself as referee." However, I still do this since going back and reading my chat log, rolls, attacks, damage, skill rolls, and other information I type in is invaluable. This means "talking to myself as DM" in the chat, just to keep track of what is happening, the start of encounters, and the results of actions, but I keep my notes and "flowery language" to the point, so it is not too much work.
A DM and players "must announce what is happening or their current action."
As a DM, describe the results of attacks or skill rolls.
As a player, clearly state actions.
Also, as a DM, let player skill rolls "simmer a while." If a player makes a successful check to sneak or hide, if that check succeeds, don't keep rolling a skill check every turn. Let the result stay around for a while until the situation changes. I made a sneak roll for agility for a player, rolled a 19 vs. a DC 15, and let that player remain hidden for the scene, even when they followed the monsters into another scene.
Thematically and story-wise, that skill roll should have a reasonable narrative duration.
You don't roll for every foot of progress when climbing a rope.
This method also reduced the pain of playing on a VTT since making endless rolls for every little thing, every step of the way, and every minute of the day is a terrible, grindy, slow, and sickening way to play. This is also the problem of "passive skills" since they assume an "always on" mindset; they imply that dice rolls for everything should always happen every turn. In my story, that character "creeping and following" made an excellent die roll, giving the character "sneaky status" until things change, making sense and speeding play.
You are a terrible referee if you force players to roll for the same thing twice (and nothing has changed). All you are trying to do is screw the players with the dice. Roll once and let it stand.
On the flip side, if the players fail, let that stand, and don't let them roll for the same thing twice. Find another way, another skill, or just figure out how to move forward.
Your dice rolls should mean something.
You get one die roll and stand by it.
Stop playing with the dice and rolling them repeatedly until you get the desired result. Your dice will lose their power. Imagine playing Monopoly that way.
That isn't gaming.
If you ever need to re-roll for a better result, stop and say, "GM Fiat!" Then, just say what happens without rolling another die. You will save a lot of heartache this way, and your dice will retain their mystical powers.
I treat the chat logs as my game log; typing them all in seems painful. Later, however, coming back and reading "what I said as DM" and "how a character reacted" makes the little extra effort worth it. Typing "I sneak to the treasure chest" as a character, creating a roll, and having the DM say, "You sneak over and find..." seems like more work at the time, but later on when I fire up the session again, the game is right there, and what I typed in becomes my journal.
When you play solo, it is not all "free-form mind play," that is one of the quickest ways to fail at solo gaming. Without a journal, I find my solo games all fall apart. With my Roll20 games and chat logs and having the character sheets stored online, I see everything is waiting for me to return to it and pick up right where I left off. I can have a few games running at a time.
When I started this, it seemed utterly counterintuitive.
- Why would I give up my gaming table?
- I love figures, dice, maps, and pawns!
- Nothing beats tactile, real-world play!
- The online tools and character sheets never work right!
- This is going to be more work and hassle for no benefit!
And then, I made the commitment. I am "going digital" while keeping my books and ability to roll dice outside the machine. I knew this was the right choice when I discovered how much dust was gathering on my table. My games take zero space in my room, I can switch between a few of them, and I am learning to work with the tools and systems so I will be ready to play online with others, should that come up.
I am playing more now.
I use my physical books, PDFs, and real-world dice much more. Even when gaming on a monitor, I still like to have my real-world books and dice to use, and they help me feel like I am playing the game.
Going digital was one of the best decisions I have made regarding gaming.
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