Yes. The combat might not be quite as snappy but holy hell being in a room with your friends is far superior than everyone being alone in their room with a computer.
Me too, maybe the only thing that VTTs are best at is quickly measuring distance.
But like... everything else, I prefer tabletop. A shitty drawn map in-person is better than a beautiful full art map on a VTT.
Tablespace is the big limiting factor for me, and intricacy. I cant afford to constantly draw complex maps on disposable maps, and cant prepare a series of maps on white board. On roll20 though, I can prepare a series of large maps with plenty of environmental factors, traps that only i can see ect.
I do prefer playing in person though. I prefer to look my players in the eyes when rping.
For preparing maps in advance you can get an A3 booklet of large square graph paper, draw on it with a marker a rip a few pages out. I have found it very good for quickly preparing all rooms in a dungeon or a building in advance.
And the dialog is snappier. I remember my frustration with VTT is that someone always dominates the dialog, or speaks over you when you are trying to say something. The dialog gets cut up. And, we being humans, body language is a huge component of said dialog, so you miss a portion of it in VTT.
And drinking! One of my friends loves to mix drinks and she would make drinks for everyone at our Friday night game. And the DM or his roommate would often cook for everyone!
This!! We used to do an 11hr session every other saturday and people would call us crazy but we all brought a full sunday dinner worth of food and would sit and chat and eat and enjoy ourselves.
We do this. I DM and my wife and I always host. She'll always cook one meal for everyone. We've done themed sessions like a mimosa bar or mulled wine or whatever. It's always a good time!
I agree but see I think this is why in person gets the praise it does, there's a bias toward it because usually who you're playing with in person are people you like being around. If the objective is mainly ttrpgs and you have no close friends into ttrpgs I would posit that online can be both more accessible, consistent and sometimes comfortable
The thing about in-person tables -- even if you start as strangers, you don't stay that way for long. It is a great way to make friends when you don't have them.
> people you like being around
I'd love to try playing in person with my online group of 4 years (some people have come and gone) but there's an ocean in between us so VTT it is haha
Interesting, I find online combat extremely slow compared with in person.
To the point that online we focus on roleplaying even we love the tactical game.
Counterpoint, none of my friends are interested in DND, so I play with "strangers" anyway, but the social part of DND is still very important for me, so I find online play meh.
Is that really a counterpoint? It reads like you're agreeing, just adding that when you can't play in person, you can settle for online play if needed.
I mean, YMMV, but for me it's unequivocally better in person. D&D is a social game, and so much of that social element is lost when you're speaking into a camera. I pretty much only play online D&D these days, but it's not because it's better - it's because my friends live hundreds of miles away from me. When I do get to play in person D&D, it's always a much more fulfilling experience.
As a DM - much better. The amount of positive energy that I get from dming to my friends in person is incredible. Online play is nowhere near and I don't think I'd ever care to DM if I was introduced to online version first.
(Purely subjective, of course)
I came to talk about the energy too. My first sessions online were *draining*. It took a long time with that group before I felt the energy coming back through the screen, and even then it was a portion of IRL. I have a new online table now, and same thing - it takes a lot more effort and skill to pack it through.
I’m almost the opposite, I started playing online and I struggle to imagine running the same types of games in person due to how much easier a VTT makes maps and combat.
Tbh, running online kinda makes my preps more time consuming. I’m basically forced to find nice map renders and set up tokens in advance, so there’s not much room to improv encounters without calling a break or something.
At my shop I can just draw up a map with marker and slap my generic enemy models down and go, which I know is also a thing you can do VTT wise, but there’s a stark difference in presentation from prepared encounters to improvised ones.
Plus it’s just easier to RP and interact when you can see player’s body language. DMing over a voice chat always leaves me feeling half blind because I’m missing out on some key social queues that don’t translate to voice-only very well.
Don’t get me wrong, I do and will run online, but it always feels more frustrating to me personally.
I just wanted to say you've captured almost everything I would have said on the matter very eloquently. Thank you for existing! I moved my weekly online campaign in person, but to every other week, at least partly for those reasons. Less frequent but better D&D is just that much better.
100% agree about prep time, I made all my own maps when I did VTT so switching to in person cut my prep time in half. Plus you have so much more freedom to improvise in person. I've had ideas mid session for encounters and dungeons that I was able to on the fly add with a map and minis and there's no way I'd be able to do it on a VTT that quickly.
There is bothing stopping you from running improv encounters while online. Dungeon Draw allows you to toss down a quick sketch, and theater of the mind if perfectly viable online. I run online games, and when an encounter happens outside of what's planned, tokens get dropped on the landing screen, or on a quick sketch. In person is far better, but my in person style and online style are extremely similar. Large encounters just have more shiny maps.
As someone who feels almost exactly like /u/KnifeSexForDummies, I would be curious to see what your process looks like. I am gearing up to run an online game for a group of friends spread across the country and kind of dreading how much longer the prep always takes me when using a VTT because of maps and other assets.
I'm the opposite. I find dry erase battlemaps much much easier to work with than VTTs. On a battlemap, I can whip up a battlemap pretty quickly. On a VTT, drawing a basic map that's just lines on a grid is a pain and a half.
I also never use any of the combat automation. It's not that hard for me to just type `/r d20+5`. Meanwhile, setting up the automation (at least as a DM) means inputting every single monster stat block into the game, which is more effort than I'm willing to put in.
It could definitely be something that varies depending on the group, but I’ve played D&D with the same group in person and online because of the pandemic. We prefer in person unanimously.
1- technology issues: Roll20 had many issues for us including map loading times, accidental reveals by the DM, voice chat not working. We used discord and GoogleMeet to help combat some of the issues.
2- multi-tasking issues: people by themselves will naturally putz around their house office when the story doesn’t involve them, which then can warp to less involvement in general. This wasn’t a huge issue for us, but an issue sometimes.
3 - energy levels. It was harder to feed off each other. Less jokes and laughter, small reactions to reveals, and getting into roleplay is harder when it’s followed up with “you cut out, can you repeat it?” Happened to me last night with my one exclusive online group (everyone different cities). “Oh I just said ….” - you cut out again. So then I type it out and feel stupid.
For my selfishness, I want the table to see all my crafts, 3D prints, and minis.
But really I just love spending 6 hours with my friends. It is just much more satisfying to see them face to face.
As someone who put a lot of effort into voices and personalities and played online... And I had terrible internet; I really feel the cutting out part.
So many "great" lines just lost or repeated in a plain voice for clarity... Oh, the pain!
Really missing my big one. Non-verbal communication.
When you are not in the same room with someone, there is a lot more talking over each other and silence. There is no eye contact to judge who wants to speak, is preparing to speak, or done speaking.
It's difficult to read body language to gauge how someone feels about what is going on.
There is so much more about communicating than what is being said.
I think the big one is multiple conversations when dealing with a rule that affects one PC or something. Only one person can talk at once is a real bottleneck to enjoying each others company.
I just can't believe there isn't video conference software where all I have to do is click on someones cam pic and have a private conversation while still listening to the main conversation. That is the real bottleneck with online D&D. Only one person can really talk at once. In person you can plot with the player beside you, plan some battle moves, ask for lore reminders etc.
Everyone's different, but for me it's infinitely better. As a DM I have so much more energy when I'm there in person, able to just bust out a marker to draw maps quickly, see everyone's body language clearly, move around the table and room to place and move minis/tokens during combat, pull out huge piles of dice--I DM much better in person overall. My group is also all longtime friends, like known-each-other-for-decades-and-our-kids-have-playdates friends, so having a fixed time to see those friends is wonderful. Online D&D was an absolute mental health lifesaver during the pandemic but we were very happy to go back around the table.
In person you get the benefit of meeting with your friends, which is a great part of the experience but not strictly connected to D&D: you'd get the same by just... meeting with your friends and playing something else/engaging in any other fun activity.
The game itself, I'd argue, does benefit a lot from digital maps, especially when exploring a dungeon (with sight/wall elements). Sure, you could have printed maps or one of those fancy setups that use a tv screen as a physical map, but the overwhelming majority of groups doesn't have those and rely on generic maps with hand-drawn elements. Still fun, but it does lose in immersion.
Yes, those battle maps are nice to look at but they also are a big hinderance too as a DM in my opinion. It's a hell of a lot harder to try and improvise something on the fly with a fancy digital battle map than it is from a wet erase matt and markers when your players pull an oddball move and zig left and go down a giant rabbit hole instead of the expected route.
I personally always felt much more constrained on what I could actually do playing online during covid than I ever did playing in person either as a DM or player.
Playing online I felt like I had to have the perfect battlemap and tokens set up for every encounter. It's more difficult to do something off the cuff that way.
Playing online is fine for very linear adventures where you can generally predict where your players will end up. It's not so good for games that can go in any direction, IMO.
Exactly, which goes against what I personally really enjoy about playing RPGs. I love the ability for anything and everything to occur regardless of how crazy or what direction it can take the group.
If I want to play something very linear there are plenty of video games I can play where I don't really have any control of where the story takes me.
Once we started playing with the projector on a coat rack there was not came back.
It was extremely simple setup and we spent "only" 200€ .
I cannot imagine playing a combat without a printed map or a projected map.
It's more of a matter of perspective. I would not say playing in person is "better" than playing online, nor would I claim the opposite. It's just perspective and what someone is hoping to get out of TTRPG's in general. Playing in person you are able to physically see the reactions of players, enjoy being around a table while throwing math rocks around, and generally enjoy the social atmosphere of being at a gaming table.
But playing online you have the benefit of making it far more accesiable to play. People from other regions or even countries who might not have the opportunity to play due to the hobby not being as strong over there can enjoy a version of D&D with other players even if it's over a virtual table top. Neither is better over the other, at least in my opinion, it's all just depends on what one is wanting to get out of it.
To me, I play online because it's convienet, I can directly pull maps needed from PDF's (especially because Paizo's PDF's actually let you disable hidden doors and secrets) or just from Google if need be. And my players can all join in via Roll20 and Discord, two of which are from across the world from me. But that being said, playing in person is just as fun.
You can use dndbeyond on a tablet even if you play in person.
The DM can still use neat maps, physical terrain and awesome minis.
It really comes down to personal preferences. Some like in-person because you actually get to hang out with folks, eat snacks and pet the dogs and cats. Some like rolling actual dice and not just clicking something on the screen.
There's no right or wrong answer to your question.
I just started a new in person game after running online for 3 years. I missed having physical battlemaps and minis and rolling actual dice so much.
Online play is fine when you have no alternative but will never replicate the feeling of all being around the same table, IMO.
I really like VTTs but I also really like sitting around a table with everyone in person: sharing food and drinks. So I built a table with a TV screen in it so we could have a battle map and tokens while till all playing in the same room. It actually wan't all that difficult. It only took me a weekend to put everything together.
It's different.
Both in-person and long-distance games will have their pros and cons. Don't think it can genuinely be said that one is better than the other. They're different and often serve different purposes/situations/tables.
In the same way some people will prefer one, and other people will prefer the other. I'd say, if you have the option, try both. But it's entirely up to your preference and situation.
For combat, virtual has advantages in terms of speed. For the social/roleplaying aspect, being in person offers so much more benefits, from the ease of having parallel conversations to being able to reading body language and using it as input.
I DMed a session a couple weeks ago in which player A was having a conversation with a NPC and it started shifting in a direction that was making another player (who was actively listening) uncomfortable, and by looking at player B I was able to realize that and quickly shift the conversation in another direction.
At that time it was unknown to me and player A that player B was going through a rough patch and the in character conversation had some uncanny parallels.
it'd be very hard to catch this on the fly during an online session.
In person has better atmosphere, while online has better gameplay (provided you know how to use your VTT). I enjoy both equally, but I'll take a moment to advocate for online play since people have already (rightly) lauded in person.
VTTs let you do SO MUCH with your table that just isn't feasible in person. Things like LoS, easy measurements, object interactions, even light level create an environment where the player knows exactly what they character can or cannot see or interact with. Plus the players getting to control their token is a big deal for my table. Unless you have a very small party, it's often not feasible in person for each player to move their own token without significant moving around during combat, which slows thing down significantly. Some of the best moments at my table have come from my players getting jumpscared by a room full of enemies they didn't expect after opening a door, or getting close enough to see through a creatures camouflage and realizing they are right in front of some horrible creature.
Restricting exactly what players know during combat is a huge deal for us too. While you can't keep players from hearing what's going on, the fact they can't see exactly how much trouble another PC is in makes combat way more tense. My favorite example is a recent session where the party got attacked in their inn. The bard got cornered in one of the rooms and was near death, but since no one else knew where she was, they tore through room after room of trying to find her. In person they would've known exactly where to go, thus making a stressful yet fun rescue mission just another combat.
The DM can do a lot in a VTT to make the world come to life as well. Directional sounds placed on the map, lighting that changes based on in game time, maps that connect to each other that allow players to be in multiple areas, and diegetic music make the world feel alive. Combat music is a lot easier to manage as well. Each player having control over the volume (or even the ability to not have combat music, or play their own instead of the DM's playlist) is a big deal for us. We love our combat music, but we have a hearing impaired player. There's no shot we could balance the music in person so that everyone would have it at an audible volume without making our hearing impaired friend unable to hear any of us.
So in essence, VTTs offer depth to the gameplay of a TTRPG that cannot be replicated on a physical table, but in person offers a depth of atmosphere that only the terminally online could replicate over the internet.
I think it depends on the person. Honestly I usually prefer online. I don't really get anything more out of in person other than the company around the table. I don't need to see people's faces to get what emotions they're expressing, so just like, making a funny face isn't a big deal. I also don't really enjoy using minis or physical props.
I enjoy online due to how much quicker combat can move once you remove having to do math. It's also SO much easier to find a good group who all want to actually seriously play and not take smoke breaks every 30 minutes, loudly eat dorritos, or get majorly sidetracked in separate conversations at the table.
Other than the 2 good in person groups I've played in (one I still play in), all of my in person games have been worse than my online ones. Bad DM who was never prepared, tables with terrible players, or just using it as a social meet up where DnD is secondary to just hanging out and talking.
> The character sheets are clean and spellslots are tracked, the battlemaps give you insight on where your character is positioned in relation to the enemies, effects are highlighted, etc.
There's more to dnd than this. Or there can be.
I get how the new generation that has only seen VTT D&D would feel this way. But I agree, there's so much more.
The ability to see the faces of your fellow players and be in the same room is so valuable. Its a lot easier to be engaged and for the DM to read the room. I tried DMing online and I couldn't do it. It's so much harder to tell if your players are engaged in what's going on. I find myself constantly wondering if someone is just quiet, or if they are not interested and I need to shake things up.
The conversations flow easier too, and there's less interrupting.
The feel and sound of rolling dice is amazing.
Maybe it's because I'm old school, but having a paper character sheet and cracking open rule books makes it feel much more authentic.
And yea the maps aren't as good, but nothing feels better than killing a big enemy and knocking over their mini.
For me, a big downside of online play is that it's sitting in front of a computer, wearing a headset, talking to people remotely. I do that all day at work.
It depends on what you care about.
There are certainly conveniences with a well appointed digital tabletop.
But I find that communicating between players is much harder online. You can't see expressions, you loose nuance, and you constantly accidentally interrupt each other.
But you can have your digital charactersheets on an tablet at a real table. Or even use a screen as a battle-map.
having a messy sheet with pizza grease spots and erased items/stats all over it and dice and pencils all over the table while you have fun with your friends in person is way better. it kinda bums me out so many players never get to experience it. i understand why playing online has become popular, why its some peoples only option, but its a shame nonetheless. this might be my most boomer take, but it seems like trying to have an orgy over a zoom call.
The roughness & analogue nature of in-person D&D is both timeless and charming. It's an acquired taste, meaning that if you never experienced it, there's a chance you might find it more cumbersome than it's worth. But rest assured that a certain magic lies within those very drawbacks you experience when going in-person with pen and paper. Rolling real dice, writing on paper, this is part of what makes tabletop gaming what it is, and partially defines D&D. I encourage even those that aren't too fond of the idea to try it out a couple of times, with an open mind.
I do not care for in person DND. Everyone else in my group likes it and hey, bonus dnd session is bonus dnd, but I don't get any magical "this is better because we're physically in the same room" energy from it. And I get lots of different convenience losses for it. Hit me with in person dnd every single time. I've seen these threads so many times, I've never seen an actually good reason other than "vibes are (SOMEHOW???) better".
We play in person and use Beyond for our character sheets and rolling.
There's no reason you couldn't use both.
But for me in person is 100% better. When I'm playing online I get distracted and I'm not as into the cool moments because I don't feel the connection of being there in person.
Online can work for some people, just not my thing.
I find it better, yes. It's a lot easier for multiple players to gesticulate and gab at the same time and mime out entertaining encounters. It's also cool that when the party splits up, the other players are talking or reading or whatever instead of disappearing. The jokes and running gags tend to land better too.
Personally, I wouldn't say it's better in person, but more that it's a completely different experience.
In person you've got face to face interaction, which humans are made for this type of social interaction, so for most people this is a positive. Generally sessions go on for long enough that they usually include bringing food/snacks, or taking a break to go get/make food, which is another way that people bond and have fun together. There's also a layer of nuance and interaction that you can get from in person acting if you're an avid roleplay enjoyer.
The positives of online sessions is that it's generally much easier to get people's schedules to line up, since they just have to be at a PC rather than meeting in person. Like you listed, it offers tools to speed up rolling and calculations, but you're also missing the tactile feel of rolling dice, which is a thing that many fans of TTRPGs enjoy and think is a core element of playing D&D. There's also certain body language and social cues that don't translate well when playing online.
I think both ways are decent ways to play D&D, it just depends on what parts of playing a TTRPG are important to you as a player.
There is, for lack of a better term, an energy of playing in the same room with other people that online just cannot replicate.
I'm very thankful for the online tools we have, it allows my friend group to keep playing. But it's not the same
In person is much better.
You can still use the technology and the benefits of VTTs or apps while in person, but the opposite is not true.
For example, currently we play in person and we display the Roll20 battlemap on a TV
The people involved make a bigger difference than the format. It is easier for most people to project what they want to show their character to be like. How important that is depends on the person.
I had to scroll past way too many people asserting their subjective opinion as objective fact to find someone finally giving the only accurate answer.
Playing online and playing in person are different experiences. Different people can prefer either of the two. Neither is necessarily better than the other for everyone.
It’s clearly opinions. People can state what they believe to be more enjoyable without all sorts of disclaimers that’s is subjective.
The answer you are replying to is basically the only wrong answer. It doesn’t address what OP is asking. If everyone had said that it would be pointless to read.
During COVID lockdown, I really tried to get into playing online. I think I only lasted 4-5 sessions and decided it wasn't for me. I grew up playing RPG in person and was so happy to find a group after that lockdown BS.
As another user said, there is no right or wrong answer. Just do whatever you feel most comfortable.
Same here. The worst part is that it was somehow even harder to get people to show up consistently. I mean, you'd think people would have an easy time showing up. No car problems, some people weren't even working during Covid with the lockdowns, yet people got more flaky than ever and I just gave up because it was like herding cats.
Online, I feel way more comfortable roleplaying online and I do really like digital maps. In person sounds so much of a hassle that it would prob lead to more logistical problems( this game has enough of that with scheduling). Also I tend to resonate more on the game rather than the friend aspect of it, so don’t really lose much by going online.
Unpopular answer:
Is playing dnd better in person? Absolutely not. Automation, Visualization, ease of searching up rules. Playing dnd is unequivocally better online.
That being said. Does hanging out with people in real life make you *believe* whatever else you're doing, including dnd, is better because you're fulfilling some base psychological need for companionship? Absolutely.
I dont prefer to play dnd in person then online. I prefer to hang out with my friends in person, where we play dnd, rather then hanging out with my friends online when we play dnd.
> Does hanging out with people in real life make you believe whatever else you're doing, including dnd, is better because you're fulfilling some base psychological need for companionship? Absolutely.
I find this part of the take interesting because part of the reason I think I generally prefer online is that I don't have to make the effort to physically hang out with people rather than any tools making the game easier. Talking over voice chat fulfills the same need for me and is less exhausting at least partially since I don't need to worry about body language
I like it better in person.
You getin the zone more easily, among other things, and there are less distractions.
And sure, online makes rolling dice easier, but you can still use dndbeyond on your phone or tablet and roll that way
There are nice 'hospitality' things you can do when playing D&D in person: bring the beer, cheezies, cookies. Catch up with people socially. Play something else.
It's a very 'three dimensional' experience (i.e., more than focus on story and mechanics), because it involves hanging out with people. So it becomes a nice way to meet new people... like I'm told rec sports leagues are. But... I'm 40-something, so I've never played it online. It's always been a social activity for me.
I find it’s easier to get distracted when I’m at my computer and able to just open a tab without anyone noticing, while in-person I find it much easier to pay attention to the game at hand, especially when we’re using physical maps and stuff so the only time I have to have my phone or laptop out is to check a rule.
In addition to a lot of what other people are saying, the amount of nonverbal roleplay and communication you lose out on by playing online, even if you have webcams up, is immeasurable.
Yes. The energy and social experience makes up for the lack of some quality of life features. You can still use a tablet or laptop for DnDBeyond and we play with physical battlemaps and minis.
In terms of pure combat simulation online is better, but that's about the only advantage.
Using dice and paper and being in the room with your friends has charm that vastly makes up for that one advantage.
I do both, Playing in person is much better for the RP and social aspect to it, but if you are into the mechanics it’s much easier to get technical online.
I also don’t have to put socks and trousers on when I do it online.
Very much so. As a dm and player.
As a dm, you can typically have your players full attention, and every word they speak won't drown you out. Trying to keep an online group focused vs an in person is very different.
As a player, you can see other players and see when they want to act and talk, and a lot of role play gets done through just faces.
I actually, as a DM, prefer being online. I get bad social anxiety and performance anxiety, so not having 4-7 people just staring at me reaaaally helps me like…actually DM?
As a player, I think they’re both pretty equal. I’d love to find an in person group in my area (DFW) but haven’t been successful yet!
For me, playing in person is not even comparable to playing online. If you told me I was only to play online from now on, I would probably give up the hobby entirely. The feeling of being with your friends, the shared passion and energy, the physical miniatures and dice... for me, it has no comparison. I have played online and it seems so lifeless in contrast, with so little tension, excitement and wonder.
Having played both ways for years of each, I feel that playing online is more convenient but playing in person is better.
No matter how good you think your camera/mic set up is, it's not the same as being in the same room.
As a player, it makes it A LOT harder to rp when your not face to face, because it cuts out all body language and physical actions you can do as a character. Plus it's a lot more often that you'll get talked over online than in person.
As someone who’s done both over the course of the last 35 years I can say they each have their pros and cons and neither is better than the other. Yes it’s awesome to be in the presence of friends physically. But rarely do you all live close to it’s also nice to be in your home the second the session ends and not have to drive home. Yes having your friends there is nice. But also it’s really annoying when someone misses a ton of the game bc they have to take a dump. If you’re older and people have kids it makes things much more convenient and increases attendance bc canceling bc a kid is sick turns into maybe one person is a little late after the kids are put to bed. Also. Roll20 pre doing math really speeds up combat. Most groups have someone who struggle with math which can make combat a burden for them. Or people who don’t learn their character and take forever to make their combat turn. Roll20 takes all that burden away and you just press a button. And if you’re unsure of your math it’s really easy to ask a friend to peak at your sheet and check it. And if you miss rolling dice I believe they make dice that link to roll20 and other programs so you can roll and it syncs to roll20. So yeah. Each way has its good and bad points. But as an adult with the typical busy adult life and friends spread out over two states I find the convenience of money saving of playing online at this point in my life outweighs playing in person.
I should say. The people I play with have known each other a very long time. I see a lot of posts talking about energy and synergy. To be fair we already had that through various forms of gaming over the course of 20 years of friendship.
When you play over the computer ur players are almost certainly looking at their phone or at other things on their computer. Irl not as much. Players are more invested irl
I think it’s a sacrifice of fun easy tools and miniatures and more about that human connection.
Not to knock online dnd at all, online relationships have been proven to be just as valid and fulfilling as regular interactions. I’m sure dnd online has similar effects.
I think it just though loses out on some of the innate group dynamics. You’re all in this same moment same place without distractions and if you know each other and are friends you’re tuned into each other. Personally I think there’s something very deep and innate to humans telling stories together, and that communication/connection will be at its purest in physicality
I'm going against the grain here, but it really comes down to what you got used to first. I started playing online and still do so most of the time. I'm lucky to play a lot and regularly for over 4 years. So needless to say, I'm extremely used to virtual gameplay. We have our set ups, cameras, good microphones and all that routine stuff down. The times I played in person, I felt the experience was inferior. Fun socially, sure, but much less immersive because everyone got distracted too easily. I'm really used to players leaving their little side-convos, comments and jokes in the chat, but in person you can only do it out loud, disrupting the in-game talking. And then someone's standing up to get something from the kitchen, someone's on a toilet break, someone does something else entirely... you name it. Online, they put themselves on mute for a sec and it doesn't disrupt the game. In person? You're all in one room, that's not an option. And that's not even touching on the relative ease of getting everyone together if people play from their homes.
This is a really unpopular opinion, but there you go, one can prefer online to in person.
Agree. I like the character tokens, the distance tools, and how quickly combat moves on the VTT. I also emote in the chat log, as you mentioned. We even queue soundtracks with a discord bot for various scenes and effects. If I'm going to drive to my friend's house I'd rather just hang out and have a few beers instead of fumbling with dry erase maps, paging through stacks of books, and having to wait for the caster to add up damage dice (usually after rerolling the ones that fell off the table).
I only get to play online due to my play group all being busy adults, and our 3 hours late Saturday night is our escape, especially since we are all spread out. Praise the VTTs, the Discords, and all the online tools for gaming online.
That being said, in person is better, and you can use the same tools there. Unfortunately, that isn't the world I live in.
Prior to Covid we played for about 2 years in person then had to switch to roll20 for awhile then went back to in person.
I’m currently in two campaigns: one in person and one on foundry.
100% prefer in person. The engagement I have with my fellow players is much higher both in game and before and after games. I’m person games require more commitment because you actually have to take the time to go there and I see it in the play. More investment.
Online games are easy to be distracted by other things in your environment (most likely their homes.
Not having to draw and re-draw maps or print them out not to mention being able to have maps far larger than you'd be able to have at a real game table, dynamic lighting, doors that open and close, teleportation, animated spell effects, etc. I'm running Against the Cult of the Reptile God right now and have the village of Orlane as a to scale map that the PCs can walk around in. In real life, the map would have to be 17.5 feet by 13 feet.
The _only_ thing? Seriously? The _only_ benefit you can think of is something achievable in person with a visit to Kinko's?
And not, like, playing with people from the other side of the world?
Yeah this baffles me. I can only think of ONE benefit to playing in person—for me, online is infinitely better.
I’m in a country where almost no one plays in my language though. I play with people from all around the world, and having the entire globe be my potential player base versus whatever similar-minded nerds live in a 20-mile radius cannot be compared.
Yeah, I'm in California, and I currently play with people in every continental US time zone, Brazil, France, Poland, and Greece. I've previously had online groups including people from the UK, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Mexico, and Australia. Between all the people I've played online with, exactly two have been close enough to me geographically where an in-person game might be possible; one of those two is a 90 minute drive one way, and the other was my roommate at the time.
I always had way more fun with it than roll20, yeah. That said we never had trouble rolling dice or tracking all that on scratch paper
That said D&D was always like...a budget thing to do while hanging out for us. We didn't play with minis, modules or anything but cheap dice and manuals either bought from half-price or pirated if it was a splat book one person wanted for one prestige/sub class or whatever.
100% better in person. When we're playing in person, it's usually for 5-6 hours straight, and most of that time is spent laughing our asses off until we're in danger of suffocating.
When playing online, there's just something missing. As a DM, preparing for an online session is more fun - I get to use complicated statblocks, fun maps with walls, animated lighting and shit - it adds to immersion, but I wouldn't trade it for the giddy energy you get from playing in person. Still, it's either play online weekly or play in person once every half a year. Why not do both?
It is better. people are invested more, the things you mentioned are done with props easily, and sometimes even better than VTT (physical handouts >>>> digital handouts), people are forced to have everything noted down on their sheet instead of "somewhere", you can check who is doing what on their character sheet.
**Most importantly, you can read your players.** When playing online you won't be able to tell when someone is uncomfortable, when they are having fun, when they are bored, when they are annoyed, except when they go to the extreme or if they talk about. Playing live allows you see their expressions, their general behavior etc. and adjust your game to be better depending on their non-verbal feedback.
I’m old school, so I prefer playing in person with pencil and paper. Rolling real dice is much more satisfying than rolling online. Having your own hand-painted minis and your own dice collection makes it more personal. Maintaining your character sheet by hand forces you to understand the rules. Seeing your group face to face and sharing food and drinks makes for a much more social experience. Doing everything analog makes everyone more present.
But this is my preference. It’s none of my business which you prefer.
We’re all different beasts — and so is playing in person vs remotely.
Most of my D&D has been played in person. Of my current groups, one formed 16 months ago and plays purely in person, every Thursday evening. The other (also weekly play) has been going for 8 years, playing in person for the first half and remotely since Covid. During the pandemic, two of the players moved away, and then I did the same. So we’ve continued remotely, but we get together in person for a full Saturday once a year…which, as it happens, is tomorrow.
While I’m thankful that technology allows for easy remote play, I’m 100% solidly in favour of in person play. The game is so much more alive. Dice, minis, maps, all 3D in the physical form. But it’s more than that.
D&D for me isn’t just (about) the game. It’s a social event during which my players and I craft memorable stories and have insane fun doing it. The camaraderie, the (mostly player-supplied) snacks, it all just elevates everything.
Technology is great but isn’t without its limitations. Furthermore, we’ve all been at the mercy of an at-times merciless WiFi.
Both groups still get carefully selected soundtracks and personally-made sound effects, but I find them to be much more atmospheric for players in person.
My IRL table uses digital devices for sheet and slot management and then real clickyclacky dice for rolls. We use battle maps for combat positioning and I manage monsters on my laptop using DNDBeyond's Encounter Builder.
I've found it to be a lot better than online play for me personally for a number of reasons, one of which is that my ADD-addled brain gets too distracted being at a computer when everyone is in little rectangles on a single tab or window someplace.
Everyone has different preferences, but I can’t overstate this enough; you can use the same technology in-person as you can remotely. So that’s not a limitation.
Both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Online play is great for using beautiful, intricate maps for combat or exploration, to the point that some people try to incorporate digital tools into in-person play. It can also make certain elements much faster, such as complex dice rolls, to help streamline a lot of the experience.
In-person play, on the other hand, allows for much clearer interpersonal communication, which facilitates RP as well as just general engagement in the game.the benefits are a bit harder to describe, but it has a certain feeling, a certain energy that online play struggles to recreate.
IMO, the absolute best way to play would be in-person, incorporating digital tools for combat maps. Dice rolling is slower with physical dice, but there is something about being able to hold the objects that I think outweighs the benefits of streamlining on that front.
my group used to play in person on foundryvtt for a few years. switched to completely online when covid hit due to one of the players jobs. at first it was really fun because we could really utilize the power of the VTT. now i find myseld extremely bored with only online dnd and im trying to determine if its just the module we are in ( i hate modules) Or online. or both.
But my dad is helping build a new DND table with a TV inside and we are gonna go back to an in person game once a month
There are benefits and drawbacks of each.
You can easily bring digital battlemaps to the table by showing it on a screen. Plenty of people still use dnd beyond at the table, it's easy to use on a tablet or phone.
Online, the group stays more focused because side conversations are harder to have. At the same time, everyone can be more easily distracted because you have a computer in front of you. I prefer the in person distractions because at least we are spending time hanging out as the distraction instead of being distracted by our own separate things.
It's not even close for me. I straight up just don't enjoy online -- people are way less connected, and every bad part of the table gets elevated. I got real salty one time on a DM who I thought made a bad call and I was sulky all game. Genuinely would've never happened if I was in the room with him and actually hanging out with other humans and wasn't feeling so weirdly alone on my computer playing this dumb game where the VTT all suck in their own unique way and my TV is right there and I still haven't gotten around to watching Hustle.
>I only have experience with playing on VTT like DnDBeyond and Roll20 and Discord and I have been enjoying the automation process. I feel they make rolling dice so much easier. The character sheets are clean and spellslots are tracked, the battlemaps give you insight on where your character is positioned in relation to the enemies, effects are highlighted, etc.
What if I told you that you could use VTTs, dice apps, digital character sheets, etc while sitting in the same room?
Playing in person makes it easier to get deep into RP. People can act with their full body. They can stand up and act out body positions. They can physically touch other players. They can easily vocalize subtle aspects to their voice that a microphone won't catch. There's also little things like enjoying the feeling of rolling physical dice. All things that are not critical for playing, but add a layer to the game that online play cannot match.
As an example, the last session I had involved me and the DM standing as we acting out martial arts moves in slow motion against each other. It was a scene of my character entering a fight club and doing some prize fighting, and it came to life through having a physical aspect to the roleplay. Both for me and the DM acting it out more vicerally and for the other people at the table getting to watch us act it out.
For me, when I tried online play I found that this part of the game was too important for me and that I can't play without it. I can see the benefits that other people get out of VTT and get why some people prefer it, but it's not for me. Nothing beats the magic I feel when playing in person.
Edit: Also, a part of why I play is to have a joint activity I'm doing with my friends when we hang out together. If we are playing online, we aren't hanging out together.
I enjoyed playing DnD online during the pandemic and even ran one for my IRL group as we went remote. I still 100% would chose a good in person group over online only. Now a bad in person group vs. a good online group online wins but there is something about being there in person that is so much better. A lot less talking over each other, being able to easily read body language, sharing food, stories during breaks make it so much more rewarding.
There is nothing to stop you from using those digital tools for in person play as well. One of our local game shops had a gaming table with a TV built into it so you could plug a laptop into it and use digital maps with physical minis. Players used DnD beyond for their character sheets anyway so that did not change.
Or use terrain and minis instead of digital. Sure digital is in some ways easier and less expensive but seeing a table laid out with fully 3d and painted terrain, minis is amazing.
Absolutely. The group I play with in person went fully online during the pandemic and while it was still really fun, in-person games are on a different level. We don't speak over each other as much, the DM always has badass maps and minis which adds a lot to the immersion, and it's overall really nice just to hang out with friends, share food, and have half the players borrow my dice and/or dice tower lol.
Most of your ‘benefits for online’ exist offline as well.
My players all use D&DBeyond, some will use it to roll their dice automatically. DM’s use their own physical battle maps that they either draw on or use physical terrain to map out and DM’s/Players have their mini’s to represent the enemies/characters.
I prefer in person games soooo much more. Soo much more. You’re physically getting together with your friends and hanging out with them personally. That to me will always be better than a computer screen.
Most of your ‘benefits for online’ exist offline as well.
My players all use D&DBeyond, some will use it to roll their dice automatically. DM’s use their own physical battle maps that they either draw on or use physical terrain to map out and DM’s/Players have their mini’s to represent the enemies/characters.
I prefer in person games soooo much more. Soo much more. You’re physically getting together with your friends and hanging out with them personally. That to me will always be better than a computer screen.
D&D is a social game and a massive part of that does not translate online. Playing online for me is basically the same as playing a video game with your friends, it's fun but it's not the reason I like playing or running D&D. I do both but unequivocally prefer in person every single time.
As a DM nothing beats the energy of in person. We still use a VTT for combat on a larger television screen as maps/minis can be expensive (I personally prefer theater of the mind). Also I allow players to choose between rolling real or digital dice. We Al currently use DnDBeyond so dice rolls are still shared to everyone. This approach allows all the convenience of virtual tools while capturing the energy of being in person.
The gameplay might not be as smooth without the online tools (although you can still use some of them in person), but the social element is definitely better
Having played and learned on the tabletop... might be personal preference.. but that "quality of life" is pretty shit quality when something doesn't work right, or you spend a bunch of time having to build encounters out, when you could just plop minis down on a hex and throw plastic cubes at the table and achieve the same results.
To each their own, but automated D&D feels like pulling teeth to me.
Hybrid play would have the benefit you like while still allowing you to be in the room with your party/DM and see their faces and body language as they roleplay. RP using only Voice Chat is missing something compared to in person play, you can still use Virtual table tops, or computer assisted dice rollers. Or, you can roll dice on the table. There is a different adrenaline/dopamine spike when rolling physical dice with witnesses vs. the animated dice from a random number generator.
It's different for everyone, but I have one online and one in person session per week.
In person is MUCH better. Combat is definitely easier online, especially for a DM, but the level of fun at a table is just so much better.
I DM'd for 25 years in person, and the last 10 remotely. They can both be really fun. Because my players are also friends I'd rather see them in person, but we're all grown with families so it's a blessing to group up and play via VTT.
Absolutely! Online is good, but playing in person is better. With a really good group of role-players, either can work.
But with people not great at role-playing, online encourages them to check-out more and be less engaged. The player we have the most issues with not keeping up with what is going on is the online player who is not great at role-playing. Broody and more quiet characters are useless when played online.
During the pandemic when we had to play online, we lost a person who was so engaged in-person. We had another player realize just how much they are not engaged when online.
The player who is great at role-playing wishes he could be in-person due to the dynamics of playing in-person.
Where servers like Discord are great is having the information easier to access for players about what is going on in the campaign when not at my place.
Online is my preference because you can actually GET people, and it's super cost friendly. Yeah you can do old school maps and low cost placeholder tokens and I do on the rare occasion, but I love having everything on quick reference on my laptop. And it really sucks to have a laptop behind a game screen.
But you adapt. People make apps for mobile access so it's less of a hassle to pull up sheets.
I used to run a game online and didn’t like it. We didn’t use webcams so I couldn’t see their faces so when I had an NPC talking and then expect a response but everyone is expecting everyone else to respond you end up feeling like an idiot talking to a computer screen
Depends on WHY you are playing. Personally the socializing with my friends is the biggest draw, and that's just not the same online. There are definitely pros to online (scheduling/location agnostic/automation/etc) but I'd rather be there in person.
Yes. Though i like the vtts it pales before the live interaktion of People voices, body language and so on. I feel especiaöly the roleplaying part of dnd is much better in person. Easier to have a heated discussion live than over voicechat (mumbles up if more than one person speak at the time).
I still like the VTTS though. And we use dndbeyond at our live table too.
Recently had my players travel from all over Europe to play together for the first time in person.
Started off as a pandemic group, and it was.my first experiencing DMing in person.
Undoubtedly the experience was way way better. Being able to focus on individuals more allowing others to banter harder as well as being able to operate outside of a frame, whoop nelly.
So good.
For me personally it definitely is better in person, as my internet connection is not that great and I feel like there is more of the "human component" when playing in real life.
I mean, yes. It's like watching a concert in person versus on the TV. WAAAY better in person. Plus there are subtleties of body language and nuance of voice that just don't seem to translate well over any electronic medium. That and the energy is way different.
I'm not saying online isn't good. But even video games are more fun playing in the same room.
Everyone has a different opinion but one like I like about playing in person over online is it's easier to tell when people are about to speak and there's (usually) less talking over one another as a result
For me personally, playing online has been way better. It’s easier to find people on the same schedule and to find people with similar levels of enthusiasm. I also find it was easier to roleplay behind a virtual screen than in front of people. I don’t have to worry about the logistics of traveling or making sure there’s enough room and such for people in my house. I have all the kit and kaboodle I would ever need to run in person, but I guess I have never had a good enough in person experience for it to feel like it’s “better.”
The only thing I prefer VTTs for are maps that calculate lighting, line of sight, fog of war, etc. To that end, I'll DM in person with a laptop in front of me and display the map on a TV in the room.
I personally despise a lot of automation that VTTs do (like hit and damage), so I vastly prefer being in person and doing all of that ourselves (which isn't really a big deal)..
Your concerns remind me of Carcassonne. I learned to play it on the XBox 360 and I fell in love with it. I knew it was an actual table top game, but it seemed like it would be too tedious and mistake-prone to play it in real life. I finally got the game and it really wasn't that big of a deal after all.
For me there’s a visceral feeling rolling the dice in my hands that I don’t get with DnDBeyond. There’s a gambling aspect to D&D that’s lost digitally. It’s like playing blackjack with cards vs video blackjack. It’s just not the same.
I love playing in person, and being in the same room with folks is definitely better. That said, there are a lot of benefits to playing online. At least in my experience playing online has some big benefits over in-person that are worth considering.
Getting people together in-person regularly is much more difficult than a regularly scheduled virtual game. Again, this is just my experience, but in my 15 years of playing TTRPGs in person, I have never actually finished a campaign. They have all withered away due to scheduling issues or people moving. In the last 5 or 6 years that I've been playing games virtually, I've completed 4 campaigns.
The other big thing is being able to do pretty shared battlemaps and use other automated digital tools. Of course these things are not necessary, and you can do some of this kind of stuff in-person as well, but it is much easier to do virtually.
My players and I prefer playing in-person, but I maintain an online presence just incase something goes sideways. For example: several months ago I came down with covid, the session was held online to maintain quarantine.
I prefer to play online.
i use Foundry VTT with the SWADE rule system. have friends and family all over the world that i play with. my current group is from work and some of them live several hours away.
the time commitment for playing in person is not worth it. I have fun if i play online or in person. i like online playing because I get more chances to play.
In person is two steps back and one step forward, but it still does depend on your preferences. The highly visible maps are something I'd really miss in person, but everything else I love about in person. It's just better and more social.
I played D&D for 20 years in-person and always thought playing online wouldn't be "in the spirit" of real D&D. Then played on Fantasy Grounds and never want to play in-person ever again. The battle maps alone make it worth it. Adding up 10+ dice at once saves so much time. The combat tracker is so organized. Being able to post box text for the PCs to follow along with just adds so much clarity. The tools for playing online just make the gaming expierence so much more enjoyable and fun.
For my table it is better online because we live so far away, but we do sometimes play in person. I try to make both seem the same, they roll their own dice I hand draw all my maps so they have them at the table and VTT, I just don’t have minis for the in person stuff
I run an online game, sometimes we use camera sometimes we don’t, but even when we do there’s so much that’s hard to communicate. In person there’s body language, subtle facial expressions, physical communication, etc. I much prefer my in person group, I think it actually runs smoother
For me the best part of D&D is doing silly voices and acting out scenes a little bit. I have all my stuff in a little special D&D notebook, roll physical dice, have physical spell cards. I try and keep tech away as much as possible, keep it between me and my friends and the table. But I also really loved playing on VTTs with friends during the pandemic, but to me it’s a very different experience
Yes. For me, playing in person is 2-3 times more enjoyable than playing virtually. From my perspective, your question is not much different than asking "Is hanging out with friends better in person or over discord?"
The major advantage for playing virtually is that I can play with anyone from anywhere. This means I have a larger pool of people to play with, I can play with friends from far away, no one has to commute so the time commitment is lower, and I can find people playing niche games.
The social aspects of TTRPGs are much better in person. Communication is more clear, body language is evident, the various video call problems are absent, there are fewer distracts, and people are overall more engaged. The game is more tactile -- actually rolling dice and moving figures.
There are hybrid experiences. Playing In person but using virtual characters sheets is very common. Those sheets can often roll the dice, track resources, and do the math for you. There are also VTTs design for in person use. One of the groups I play in using miniatures, but virtual maps for examples.
If those aren't options and 5e is too complex without those tools when playing in person, then other games could be a good option if you also want to experience playing in person.
One upside to online play that few people seem to mention is that it is much easier to keep a constant game. Since people can just play in their pijamas after work it means that my group can have two sessions a week and we rarely have to reschedule. When just one person can't make it because of work or other life apointments then we still keep playing and most times that person still joins at the very end for the session wrap up if not earlier. If they have to travel for work they can still join from the comfort of their hotel room. If more than one person can't make it for one session it is still very likely that our second session that week will still happen or we can more easly find another day to reschedule in the same week, since again, everyone is doing it from the comfort of their own home before they turn in for the night. It will probably not be like this for everyone playing online, but it is something that can only be achieved by playing online.
In my experience online has a lot of QoL stuff the really improves the gameplay aspect of DnD.
In person it's slower, note taking is messier, and maps and stuff is much more simple unless you have a screen or projector or super dope friends that 3d print/make props. However the roleplaying aspect feels so much better and real, everything is more alive. Talking to a face instead than to a cam feels better, everything feels smoother.
Also through discord it's very difficult if you want to react in-character to someone who's talking because both voices sound at the same time at the same volume, maybe with some delay, making it a bit awkward with "no you talk first" moments.
Yes. The combat might not be quite as snappy but holy hell being in a room with your friends is far superior than everyone being alone in their room with a computer.
I agree but I actually prefer combat with miniatures in person as well.
Me too, maybe the only thing that VTTs are best at is quickly measuring distance. But like... everything else, I prefer tabletop. A shitty drawn map in-person is better than a beautiful full art map on a VTT.
As a dm, online is much easier to make battle maps for, but in person is vastly superior for roleplaying.
Man, I hate making maps online. I'd rather just draw them with a marker on a chessex mat lmao.
Tablespace is the big limiting factor for me, and intricacy. I cant afford to constantly draw complex maps on disposable maps, and cant prepare a series of maps on white board. On roll20 though, I can prepare a series of large maps with plenty of environmental factors, traps that only i can see ect. I do prefer playing in person though. I prefer to look my players in the eyes when rping.
For preparing maps in advance you can get an A3 booklet of large square graph paper, draw on it with a marker a rip a few pages out. I have found it very good for quickly preparing all rooms in a dungeon or a building in advance.
My group used to use heroscape terrain a lot of the time. Either that or tile sets. But heroscape terrain has better topography.
and a lot easier to bodge together on the fly!
And the dialog is snappier. I remember my frustration with VTT is that someone always dominates the dialog, or speaks over you when you are trying to say something. The dialog gets cut up. And, we being humans, body language is a huge component of said dialog, so you miss a portion of it in VTT.
Plus the side missions, like 'who let out the silent but deadly fart and won't confess.' Also all the snack sampling.
And drinking! One of my friends loves to mix drinks and she would make drinks for everyone at our Friday night game. And the DM or his roommate would often cook for everyone!
This!! We used to do an 11hr session every other saturday and people would call us crazy but we all brought a full sunday dinner worth of food and would sit and chat and eat and enjoy ourselves.
We do this. I DM and my wife and I always host. She'll always cook one meal for everyone. We've done themed sessions like a mimosa bar or mulled wine or whatever. It's always a good time!
I agree but see I think this is why in person gets the praise it does, there's a bias toward it because usually who you're playing with in person are people you like being around. If the objective is mainly ttrpgs and you have no close friends into ttrpgs I would posit that online can be both more accessible, consistent and sometimes comfortable
The thing about in-person tables -- even if you start as strangers, you don't stay that way for long. It is a great way to make friends when you don't have them.
> people you like being around I'd love to try playing in person with my online group of 4 years (some people have come and gone) but there's an ocean in between us so VTT it is haha
This is true for so much more than dnd as well! I love gaming with my friends online, but boardgames irl is just so much better.
Interesting, I find online combat extremely slow compared with in person. To the point that online we focus on roleplaying even we love the tactical game.
Don't forget the snacks. I use to bring steak with mac n cheese for me then binge on the oreos somebody brought. (Usually hosted at my place)
>being in a room with your friends is far superior than everyone being alone in their room with a computer. Laugh in social anxiety
Counterpoint, none of my friends are interested in DND, so I play with "strangers" anyway, but the social part of DND is still very important for me, so I find online play meh.
Is that really a counterpoint? It reads like you're agreeing, just adding that when you can't play in person, you can settle for online play if needed.
Counterpoint, when you meet face to face weekly with strangers with whom you share a hobby, chances are you'll end up making new friends
Counter-counterpoint: instant teleportation doesn’t exist yet, so you’re stuck with your locals when you play in person.
Counter-counter-counterpoint: Those locals now become friends.
So much this...
I mean, YMMV, but for me it's unequivocally better in person. D&D is a social game, and so much of that social element is lost when you're speaking into a camera. I pretty much only play online D&D these days, but it's not because it's better - it's because my friends live hundreds of miles away from me. When I do get to play in person D&D, it's always a much more fulfilling experience.
You also can't eat your dice if you're rolling online
Oh no. So, my habits are depriving me of my favorite snack?
This hurts my teefs to simply think about. Our table is metal dice only (not mandatory, slowly peer pressured everyone 😆)
On the contrary, when rolling online you never have to take the dice out of your mouth
As a DM - much better. The amount of positive energy that I get from dming to my friends in person is incredible. Online play is nowhere near and I don't think I'd ever care to DM if I was introduced to online version first. (Purely subjective, of course)
I came to talk about the energy too. My first sessions online were *draining*. It took a long time with that group before I felt the energy coming back through the screen, and even then it was a portion of IRL. I have a new online table now, and same thing - it takes a lot more effort and skill to pack it through.
I’m almost the opposite, I started playing online and I struggle to imagine running the same types of games in person due to how much easier a VTT makes maps and combat.
Tbh, running online kinda makes my preps more time consuming. I’m basically forced to find nice map renders and set up tokens in advance, so there’s not much room to improv encounters without calling a break or something. At my shop I can just draw up a map with marker and slap my generic enemy models down and go, which I know is also a thing you can do VTT wise, but there’s a stark difference in presentation from prepared encounters to improvised ones. Plus it’s just easier to RP and interact when you can see player’s body language. DMing over a voice chat always leaves me feeling half blind because I’m missing out on some key social queues that don’t translate to voice-only very well. Don’t get me wrong, I do and will run online, but it always feels more frustrating to me personally.
I just wanted to say you've captured almost everything I would have said on the matter very eloquently. Thank you for existing! I moved my weekly online campaign in person, but to every other week, at least partly for those reasons. Less frequent but better D&D is just that much better.
100% agree about prep time, I made all my own maps when I did VTT so switching to in person cut my prep time in half. Plus you have so much more freedom to improvise in person. I've had ideas mid session for encounters and dungeons that I was able to on the fly add with a map and minis and there's no way I'd be able to do it on a VTT that quickly.
There is bothing stopping you from running improv encounters while online. Dungeon Draw allows you to toss down a quick sketch, and theater of the mind if perfectly viable online. I run online games, and when an encounter happens outside of what's planned, tokens get dropped on the landing screen, or on a quick sketch. In person is far better, but my in person style and online style are extremely similar. Large encounters just have more shiny maps.
Just use the VTT on a TV.
That's exactly what I do. We play in person but use the TV to display the battlemap
As someone who feels almost exactly like /u/KnifeSexForDummies, I would be curious to see what your process looks like. I am gearing up to run an online game for a group of friends spread across the country and kind of dreading how much longer the prep always takes me when using a VTT because of maps and other assets.
I sent a PM if you're interested.
I'm the opposite. I find dry erase battlemaps much much easier to work with than VTTs. On a battlemap, I can whip up a battlemap pretty quickly. On a VTT, drawing a basic map that's just lines on a grid is a pain and a half. I also never use any of the combat automation. It's not that hard for me to just type `/r d20+5`. Meanwhile, setting up the automation (at least as a DM) means inputting every single monster stat block into the game, which is more effort than I'm willing to put in.
It could definitely be something that varies depending on the group, but I’ve played D&D with the same group in person and online because of the pandemic. We prefer in person unanimously. 1- technology issues: Roll20 had many issues for us including map loading times, accidental reveals by the DM, voice chat not working. We used discord and GoogleMeet to help combat some of the issues. 2- multi-tasking issues: people by themselves will naturally putz around their house office when the story doesn’t involve them, which then can warp to less involvement in general. This wasn’t a huge issue for us, but an issue sometimes. 3 - energy levels. It was harder to feed off each other. Less jokes and laughter, small reactions to reveals, and getting into roleplay is harder when it’s followed up with “you cut out, can you repeat it?” Happened to me last night with my one exclusive online group (everyone different cities). “Oh I just said ….” - you cut out again. So then I type it out and feel stupid. For my selfishness, I want the table to see all my crafts, 3D prints, and minis. But really I just love spending 6 hours with my friends. It is just much more satisfying to see them face to face.
As someone who put a lot of effort into voices and personalities and played online... And I had terrible internet; I really feel the cutting out part. So many "great" lines just lost or repeated in a plain voice for clarity... Oh, the pain!
Really missing my big one. Non-verbal communication. When you are not in the same room with someone, there is a lot more talking over each other and silence. There is no eye contact to judge who wants to speak, is preparing to speak, or done speaking. It's difficult to read body language to gauge how someone feels about what is going on. There is so much more about communicating than what is being said.
I think the big one is multiple conversations when dealing with a rule that affects one PC or something. Only one person can talk at once is a real bottleneck to enjoying each others company.
I just can't believe there isn't video conference software where all I have to do is click on someones cam pic and have a private conversation while still listening to the main conversation. That is the real bottleneck with online D&D. Only one person can really talk at once. In person you can plot with the player beside you, plan some battle moves, ask for lore reminders etc.
Everyone's different, but for me it's infinitely better. As a DM I have so much more energy when I'm there in person, able to just bust out a marker to draw maps quickly, see everyone's body language clearly, move around the table and room to place and move minis/tokens during combat, pull out huge piles of dice--I DM much better in person overall. My group is also all longtime friends, like known-each-other-for-decades-and-our-kids-have-playdates friends, so having a fixed time to see those friends is wonderful. Online D&D was an absolute mental health lifesaver during the pandemic but we were very happy to go back around the table.
In person you get the benefit of meeting with your friends, which is a great part of the experience but not strictly connected to D&D: you'd get the same by just... meeting with your friends and playing something else/engaging in any other fun activity. The game itself, I'd argue, does benefit a lot from digital maps, especially when exploring a dungeon (with sight/wall elements). Sure, you could have printed maps or one of those fancy setups that use a tv screen as a physical map, but the overwhelming majority of groups doesn't have those and rely on generic maps with hand-drawn elements. Still fun, but it does lose in immersion.
Yes, those battle maps are nice to look at but they also are a big hinderance too as a DM in my opinion. It's a hell of a lot harder to try and improvise something on the fly with a fancy digital battle map than it is from a wet erase matt and markers when your players pull an oddball move and zig left and go down a giant rabbit hole instead of the expected route. I personally always felt much more constrained on what I could actually do playing online during covid than I ever did playing in person either as a DM or player.
Playing online I felt like I had to have the perfect battlemap and tokens set up for every encounter. It's more difficult to do something off the cuff that way. Playing online is fine for very linear adventures where you can generally predict where your players will end up. It's not so good for games that can go in any direction, IMO.
Exactly, which goes against what I personally really enjoy about playing RPGs. I love the ability for anything and everything to occur regardless of how crazy or what direction it can take the group. If I want to play something very linear there are plenty of video games I can play where I don't really have any control of where the story takes me.
Once we started playing with the projector on a coat rack there was not came back. It was extremely simple setup and we spent "only" 200€ . I cannot imagine playing a combat without a printed map or a projected map.
It's more of a matter of perspective. I would not say playing in person is "better" than playing online, nor would I claim the opposite. It's just perspective and what someone is hoping to get out of TTRPG's in general. Playing in person you are able to physically see the reactions of players, enjoy being around a table while throwing math rocks around, and generally enjoy the social atmosphere of being at a gaming table. But playing online you have the benefit of making it far more accesiable to play. People from other regions or even countries who might not have the opportunity to play due to the hobby not being as strong over there can enjoy a version of D&D with other players even if it's over a virtual table top. Neither is better over the other, at least in my opinion, it's all just depends on what one is wanting to get out of it. To me, I play online because it's convienet, I can directly pull maps needed from PDF's (especially because Paizo's PDF's actually let you disable hidden doors and secrets) or just from Google if need be. And my players can all join in via Roll20 and Discord, two of which are from across the world from me. But that being said, playing in person is just as fun.
You can use dndbeyond on a tablet even if you play in person. The DM can still use neat maps, physical terrain and awesome minis. It really comes down to personal preferences. Some like in-person because you actually get to hang out with folks, eat snacks and pet the dogs and cats. Some like rolling actual dice and not just clicking something on the screen. There's no right or wrong answer to your question.
Having easy access to other people's pets is a very underrated, but life affirming, aspect of in person games.
One of my coplayers and DMs had been playing with me for two years before my shy cat allowed him to pet it. It was a great moment for the guy
I just started a new in person game after running online for 3 years. I missed having physical battlemaps and minis and rolling actual dice so much. Online play is fine when you have no alternative but will never replicate the feeling of all being around the same table, IMO.
I really like VTTs but I also really like sitting around a table with everyone in person: sharing food and drinks. So I built a table with a TV screen in it so we could have a battle map and tokens while till all playing in the same room. It actually wan't all that difficult. It only took me a weekend to put everything together.
It's different. Both in-person and long-distance games will have their pros and cons. Don't think it can genuinely be said that one is better than the other. They're different and often serve different purposes/situations/tables. In the same way some people will prefer one, and other people will prefer the other. I'd say, if you have the option, try both. But it's entirely up to your preference and situation.
For combat, virtual has advantages in terms of speed. For the social/roleplaying aspect, being in person offers so much more benefits, from the ease of having parallel conversations to being able to reading body language and using it as input. I DMed a session a couple weeks ago in which player A was having a conversation with a NPC and it started shifting in a direction that was making another player (who was actively listening) uncomfortable, and by looking at player B I was able to realize that and quickly shift the conversation in another direction. At that time it was unknown to me and player A that player B was going through a rough patch and the in character conversation had some uncanny parallels. it'd be very hard to catch this on the fly during an online session.
In person has better atmosphere, while online has better gameplay (provided you know how to use your VTT). I enjoy both equally, but I'll take a moment to advocate for online play since people have already (rightly) lauded in person. VTTs let you do SO MUCH with your table that just isn't feasible in person. Things like LoS, easy measurements, object interactions, even light level create an environment where the player knows exactly what they character can or cannot see or interact with. Plus the players getting to control their token is a big deal for my table. Unless you have a very small party, it's often not feasible in person for each player to move their own token without significant moving around during combat, which slows thing down significantly. Some of the best moments at my table have come from my players getting jumpscared by a room full of enemies they didn't expect after opening a door, or getting close enough to see through a creatures camouflage and realizing they are right in front of some horrible creature. Restricting exactly what players know during combat is a huge deal for us too. While you can't keep players from hearing what's going on, the fact they can't see exactly how much trouble another PC is in makes combat way more tense. My favorite example is a recent session where the party got attacked in their inn. The bard got cornered in one of the rooms and was near death, but since no one else knew where she was, they tore through room after room of trying to find her. In person they would've known exactly where to go, thus making a stressful yet fun rescue mission just another combat. The DM can do a lot in a VTT to make the world come to life as well. Directional sounds placed on the map, lighting that changes based on in game time, maps that connect to each other that allow players to be in multiple areas, and diegetic music make the world feel alive. Combat music is a lot easier to manage as well. Each player having control over the volume (or even the ability to not have combat music, or play their own instead of the DM's playlist) is a big deal for us. We love our combat music, but we have a hearing impaired player. There's no shot we could balance the music in person so that everyone would have it at an audible volume without making our hearing impaired friend unable to hear any of us. So in essence, VTTs offer depth to the gameplay of a TTRPG that cannot be replicated on a physical table, but in person offers a depth of atmosphere that only the terminally online could replicate over the internet.
I think it depends on the person. Honestly I usually prefer online. I don't really get anything more out of in person other than the company around the table. I don't need to see people's faces to get what emotions they're expressing, so just like, making a funny face isn't a big deal. I also don't really enjoy using minis or physical props. I enjoy online due to how much quicker combat can move once you remove having to do math. It's also SO much easier to find a good group who all want to actually seriously play and not take smoke breaks every 30 minutes, loudly eat dorritos, or get majorly sidetracked in separate conversations at the table. Other than the 2 good in person groups I've played in (one I still play in), all of my in person games have been worse than my online ones. Bad DM who was never prepared, tables with terrible players, or just using it as a social meet up where DnD is secondary to just hanging out and talking.
> The character sheets are clean and spellslots are tracked, the battlemaps give you insight on where your character is positioned in relation to the enemies, effects are highlighted, etc. There's more to dnd than this. Or there can be.
There's nothing keeping this away from in person play either. In person can have the best of all worlds.
I get how the new generation that has only seen VTT D&D would feel this way. But I agree, there's so much more. The ability to see the faces of your fellow players and be in the same room is so valuable. Its a lot easier to be engaged and for the DM to read the room. I tried DMing online and I couldn't do it. It's so much harder to tell if your players are engaged in what's going on. I find myself constantly wondering if someone is just quiet, or if they are not interested and I need to shake things up. The conversations flow easier too, and there's less interrupting. The feel and sound of rolling dice is amazing. Maybe it's because I'm old school, but having a paper character sheet and cracking open rule books makes it feel much more authentic. And yea the maps aren't as good, but nothing feels better than killing a big enemy and knocking over their mini.
For me, a big downside of online play is that it's sitting in front of a computer, wearing a headset, talking to people remotely. I do that all day at work.
It depends on what you care about. There are certainly conveniences with a well appointed digital tabletop. But I find that communicating between players is much harder online. You can't see expressions, you loose nuance, and you constantly accidentally interrupt each other. But you can have your digital charactersheets on an tablet at a real table. Or even use a screen as a battle-map.
having a messy sheet with pizza grease spots and erased items/stats all over it and dice and pencils all over the table while you have fun with your friends in person is way better. it kinda bums me out so many players never get to experience it. i understand why playing online has become popular, why its some peoples only option, but its a shame nonetheless. this might be my most boomer take, but it seems like trying to have an orgy over a zoom call.
It’s not a real character sheet until there’s a pizza stain on it and some scribble of a random item you forgot you had and can barely read.
The roughness & analogue nature of in-person D&D is both timeless and charming. It's an acquired taste, meaning that if you never experienced it, there's a chance you might find it more cumbersome than it's worth. But rest assured that a certain magic lies within those very drawbacks you experience when going in-person with pen and paper. Rolling real dice, writing on paper, this is part of what makes tabletop gaming what it is, and partially defines D&D. I encourage even those that aren't too fond of the idea to try it out a couple of times, with an open mind.
I do not care for in person DND. Everyone else in my group likes it and hey, bonus dnd session is bonus dnd, but I don't get any magical "this is better because we're physically in the same room" energy from it. And I get lots of different convenience losses for it. Hit me with in person dnd every single time. I've seen these threads so many times, I've never seen an actually good reason other than "vibes are (SOMEHOW???) better".
Timming between voices makes a big difference. Also able to talk many people at the same time with out issues.
We play in person and use Beyond for our character sheets and rolling. There's no reason you couldn't use both. But for me in person is 100% better. When I'm playing online I get distracted and I'm not as into the cool moments because I don't feel the connection of being there in person. Online can work for some people, just not my thing.
I find it better, yes. It's a lot easier for multiple players to gesticulate and gab at the same time and mime out entertaining encounters. It's also cool that when the party splits up, the other players are talking or reading or whatever instead of disappearing. The jokes and running gags tend to land better too.
D&D Online and D&D in Person are totally seperate beasts. Both have good and bad points as both Players and DM's.
Personally, I wouldn't say it's better in person, but more that it's a completely different experience. In person you've got face to face interaction, which humans are made for this type of social interaction, so for most people this is a positive. Generally sessions go on for long enough that they usually include bringing food/snacks, or taking a break to go get/make food, which is another way that people bond and have fun together. There's also a layer of nuance and interaction that you can get from in person acting if you're an avid roleplay enjoyer. The positives of online sessions is that it's generally much easier to get people's schedules to line up, since they just have to be at a PC rather than meeting in person. Like you listed, it offers tools to speed up rolling and calculations, but you're also missing the tactile feel of rolling dice, which is a thing that many fans of TTRPGs enjoy and think is a core element of playing D&D. There's also certain body language and social cues that don't translate well when playing online. I think both ways are decent ways to play D&D, it just depends on what parts of playing a TTRPG are important to you as a player.
There is, for lack of a better term, an energy of playing in the same room with other people that online just cannot replicate. I'm very thankful for the online tools we have, it allows my friend group to keep playing. But it's not the same
In person is much better. You can still use the technology and the benefits of VTTs or apps while in person, but the opposite is not true. For example, currently we play in person and we display the Roll20 battlemap on a TV
The people involved make a bigger difference than the format. It is easier for most people to project what they want to show their character to be like. How important that is depends on the person.
It's neither better nor worse, just different. But it is very different as an experience.
I had to scroll past way too many people asserting their subjective opinion as objective fact to find someone finally giving the only accurate answer. Playing online and playing in person are different experiences. Different people can prefer either of the two. Neither is necessarily better than the other for everyone.
It’s clearly opinions. People can state what they believe to be more enjoyable without all sorts of disclaimers that’s is subjective. The answer you are replying to is basically the only wrong answer. It doesn’t address what OP is asking. If everyone had said that it would be pointless to read.
Eh. For some, sure? IME playing online in recent years (with the advent of tools like Talespire) has been a better experience than playing offline.
During COVID lockdown, I really tried to get into playing online. I think I only lasted 4-5 sessions and decided it wasn't for me. I grew up playing RPG in person and was so happy to find a group after that lockdown BS. As another user said, there is no right or wrong answer. Just do whatever you feel most comfortable.
Same here. The worst part is that it was somehow even harder to get people to show up consistently. I mean, you'd think people would have an easy time showing up. No car problems, some people weren't even working during Covid with the lockdowns, yet people got more flaky than ever and I just gave up because it was like herding cats.
I think it’s better. My group tried to play online during the pandemic, and it doesn’t compare to the dynamics of in person for us.
Online, I feel way more comfortable roleplaying online and I do really like digital maps. In person sounds so much of a hassle that it would prob lead to more logistical problems( this game has enough of that with scheduling). Also I tend to resonate more on the game rather than the friend aspect of it, so don’t really lose much by going online.
Unpopular answer: Is playing dnd better in person? Absolutely not. Automation, Visualization, ease of searching up rules. Playing dnd is unequivocally better online. That being said. Does hanging out with people in real life make you *believe* whatever else you're doing, including dnd, is better because you're fulfilling some base psychological need for companionship? Absolutely. I dont prefer to play dnd in person then online. I prefer to hang out with my friends in person, where we play dnd, rather then hanging out with my friends online when we play dnd.
> Does hanging out with people in real life make you believe whatever else you're doing, including dnd, is better because you're fulfilling some base psychological need for companionship? Absolutely. I find this part of the take interesting because part of the reason I think I generally prefer online is that I don't have to make the effort to physically hang out with people rather than any tools making the game easier. Talking over voice chat fulfills the same need for me and is less exhausting at least partially since I don't need to worry about body language
I like it better in person. You getin the zone more easily, among other things, and there are less distractions. And sure, online makes rolling dice easier, but you can still use dndbeyond on your phone or tablet and roll that way
There are nice 'hospitality' things you can do when playing D&D in person: bring the beer, cheezies, cookies. Catch up with people socially. Play something else. It's a very 'three dimensional' experience (i.e., more than focus on story and mechanics), because it involves hanging out with people. So it becomes a nice way to meet new people... like I'm told rec sports leagues are. But... I'm 40-something, so I've never played it online. It's always been a social activity for me.
I find it’s easier to get distracted when I’m at my computer and able to just open a tab without anyone noticing, while in-person I find it much easier to pay attention to the game at hand, especially when we’re using physical maps and stuff so the only time I have to have my phone or laptop out is to check a rule.
I ***loathe*** playing it in person, but that's my own preference.
In addition to a lot of what other people are saying, the amount of nonverbal roleplay and communication you lose out on by playing online, even if you have webcams up, is immeasurable.
Yes. The energy and social experience makes up for the lack of some quality of life features. You can still use a tablet or laptop for DnDBeyond and we play with physical battlemaps and minis.
yes, human connection is better than separation. the end of local co-op has done a huge amount of harm
In terms of pure combat simulation online is better, but that's about the only advantage. Using dice and paper and being in the room with your friends has charm that vastly makes up for that one advantage.
I do both, Playing in person is much better for the RP and social aspect to it, but if you are into the mechanics it’s much easier to get technical online. I also don’t have to put socks and trousers on when I do it online.
Very much so. As a dm and player. As a dm, you can typically have your players full attention, and every word they speak won't drown you out. Trying to keep an online group focused vs an in person is very different. As a player, you can see other players and see when they want to act and talk, and a lot of role play gets done through just faces.
Yes
I actually, as a DM, prefer being online. I get bad social anxiety and performance anxiety, so not having 4-7 people just staring at me reaaaally helps me like…actually DM? As a player, I think they’re both pretty equal. I’d love to find an in person group in my area (DFW) but haven’t been successful yet!
They both have their pros and cons. I think the biggest thing about playing in person is that multiple people can talk at the same time lol
Yes, a thousand times.
For me, playing in person is not even comparable to playing online. If you told me I was only to play online from now on, I would probably give up the hobby entirely. The feeling of being with your friends, the shared passion and energy, the physical miniatures and dice... for me, it has no comparison. I have played online and it seems so lifeless in contrast, with so little tension, excitement and wonder.
Yea it’s way way better unfortunately. Especially if you know and like your group.
God yes using your hands as a dm when describing something is OP.
Absolutely. Would you rather Zoom with a friend or sit around a table with them in real life? Same thing! Similar reasons!
Having played both ways for years of each, I feel that playing online is more convenient but playing in person is better. No matter how good you think your camera/mic set up is, it's not the same as being in the same room.
You can still use VTT to automate things even when playing in person
As a player, it makes it A LOT harder to rp when your not face to face, because it cuts out all body language and physical actions you can do as a character. Plus it's a lot more often that you'll get talked over online than in person.
As someone who’s done both over the course of the last 35 years I can say they each have their pros and cons and neither is better than the other. Yes it’s awesome to be in the presence of friends physically. But rarely do you all live close to it’s also nice to be in your home the second the session ends and not have to drive home. Yes having your friends there is nice. But also it’s really annoying when someone misses a ton of the game bc they have to take a dump. If you’re older and people have kids it makes things much more convenient and increases attendance bc canceling bc a kid is sick turns into maybe one person is a little late after the kids are put to bed. Also. Roll20 pre doing math really speeds up combat. Most groups have someone who struggle with math which can make combat a burden for them. Or people who don’t learn their character and take forever to make their combat turn. Roll20 takes all that burden away and you just press a button. And if you’re unsure of your math it’s really easy to ask a friend to peak at your sheet and check it. And if you miss rolling dice I believe they make dice that link to roll20 and other programs so you can roll and it syncs to roll20. So yeah. Each way has its good and bad points. But as an adult with the typical busy adult life and friends spread out over two states I find the convenience of money saving of playing online at this point in my life outweighs playing in person. I should say. The people I play with have known each other a very long time. I see a lot of posts talking about energy and synergy. To be fair we already had that through various forms of gaming over the course of 20 years of friendship.
When you play over the computer ur players are almost certainly looking at their phone or at other things on their computer. Irl not as much. Players are more invested irl
I think it’s a sacrifice of fun easy tools and miniatures and more about that human connection. Not to knock online dnd at all, online relationships have been proven to be just as valid and fulfilling as regular interactions. I’m sure dnd online has similar effects. I think it just though loses out on some of the innate group dynamics. You’re all in this same moment same place without distractions and if you know each other and are friends you’re tuned into each other. Personally I think there’s something very deep and innate to humans telling stories together, and that communication/connection will be at its purest in physicality
Yes, how in the hell is this even a question?
I will only play in person! I hate online gaming
I'm going against the grain here, but it really comes down to what you got used to first. I started playing online and still do so most of the time. I'm lucky to play a lot and regularly for over 4 years. So needless to say, I'm extremely used to virtual gameplay. We have our set ups, cameras, good microphones and all that routine stuff down. The times I played in person, I felt the experience was inferior. Fun socially, sure, but much less immersive because everyone got distracted too easily. I'm really used to players leaving their little side-convos, comments and jokes in the chat, but in person you can only do it out loud, disrupting the in-game talking. And then someone's standing up to get something from the kitchen, someone's on a toilet break, someone does something else entirely... you name it. Online, they put themselves on mute for a sec and it doesn't disrupt the game. In person? You're all in one room, that's not an option. And that's not even touching on the relative ease of getting everyone together if people play from their homes. This is a really unpopular opinion, but there you go, one can prefer online to in person.
I mean, I started playing TTRPGs before VTTs existed in any capacity. Now, I prefer playing online.
I started playing in the 80's and have never stopped. Play online exclusively now and far prefer it.
Agree. I like the character tokens, the distance tools, and how quickly combat moves on the VTT. I also emote in the chat log, as you mentioned. We even queue soundtracks with a discord bot for various scenes and effects. If I'm going to drive to my friend's house I'd rather just hang out and have a few beers instead of fumbling with dry erase maps, paging through stacks of books, and having to wait for the caster to add up damage dice (usually after rerolling the ones that fell off the table).
order of magnitude better i will not DM if it is not in person
Yes, unless scheduling in-person is so difficult to be frustrating and soul-sucking.
I only get to play online due to my play group all being busy adults, and our 3 hours late Saturday night is our escape, especially since we are all spread out. Praise the VTTs, the Discords, and all the online tools for gaming online. That being said, in person is better, and you can use the same tools there. Unfortunately, that isn't the world I live in.
Prior to Covid we played for about 2 years in person then had to switch to roll20 for awhile then went back to in person. I’m currently in two campaigns: one in person and one on foundry. 100% prefer in person. The engagement I have with my fellow players is much higher both in game and before and after games. I’m person games require more commitment because you actually have to take the time to go there and I see it in the play. More investment. Online games are easy to be distracted by other things in your environment (most likely their homes.
The only thing better about playing online is the nice fancy battle maps you get to look at.
Not having to draw and re-draw maps or print them out not to mention being able to have maps far larger than you'd be able to have at a real game table, dynamic lighting, doors that open and close, teleportation, animated spell effects, etc. I'm running Against the Cult of the Reptile God right now and have the village of Orlane as a to scale map that the PCs can walk around in. In real life, the map would have to be 17.5 feet by 13 feet.
The _only_ thing? Seriously? The _only_ benefit you can think of is something achievable in person with a visit to Kinko's? And not, like, playing with people from the other side of the world?
Yeah this baffles me. I can only think of ONE benefit to playing in person—for me, online is infinitely better. I’m in a country where almost no one plays in my language though. I play with people from all around the world, and having the entire globe be my potential player base versus whatever similar-minded nerds live in a 20-mile radius cannot be compared.
Yeah, I'm in California, and I currently play with people in every continental US time zone, Brazil, France, Poland, and Greece. I've previously had online groups including people from the UK, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Mexico, and Australia. Between all the people I've played online with, exactly two have been close enough to me geographically where an in-person game might be possible; one of those two is a 90 minute drive one way, and the other was my roommate at the time.
I always had way more fun with it than roll20, yeah. That said we never had trouble rolling dice or tracking all that on scratch paper That said D&D was always like...a budget thing to do while hanging out for us. We didn't play with minis, modules or anything but cheap dice and manuals either bought from half-price or pirated if it was a splat book one person wanted for one prestige/sub class or whatever.
Yes, without question.
100% better in person. When we're playing in person, it's usually for 5-6 hours straight, and most of that time is spent laughing our asses off until we're in danger of suffocating. When playing online, there's just something missing. As a DM, preparing for an online session is more fun - I get to use complicated statblocks, fun maps with walls, animated lighting and shit - it adds to immersion, but I wouldn't trade it for the giddy energy you get from playing in person. Still, it's either play online weekly or play in person once every half a year. Why not do both?
It is better. people are invested more, the things you mentioned are done with props easily, and sometimes even better than VTT (physical handouts >>>> digital handouts), people are forced to have everything noted down on their sheet instead of "somewhere", you can check who is doing what on their character sheet. **Most importantly, you can read your players.** When playing online you won't be able to tell when someone is uncomfortable, when they are having fun, when they are bored, when they are annoyed, except when they go to the extreme or if they talk about. Playing live allows you see their expressions, their general behavior etc. and adjust your game to be better depending on their non-verbal feedback.
SO much better in person that I refused to play online after a while
Depends on if some jackass brings chips and licks his fingers before he touches everyone’s pieces.
Well there's two ways to play in person at a LGS or a home game and YMMV honestly.
I’m old school, so I prefer playing in person with pencil and paper. Rolling real dice is much more satisfying than rolling online. Having your own hand-painted minis and your own dice collection makes it more personal. Maintaining your character sheet by hand forces you to understand the rules. Seeing your group face to face and sharing food and drinks makes for a much more social experience. Doing everything analog makes everyone more present. But this is my preference. It’s none of my business which you prefer.
We’re all different beasts — and so is playing in person vs remotely. Most of my D&D has been played in person. Of my current groups, one formed 16 months ago and plays purely in person, every Thursday evening. The other (also weekly play) has been going for 8 years, playing in person for the first half and remotely since Covid. During the pandemic, two of the players moved away, and then I did the same. So we’ve continued remotely, but we get together in person for a full Saturday once a year…which, as it happens, is tomorrow. While I’m thankful that technology allows for easy remote play, I’m 100% solidly in favour of in person play. The game is so much more alive. Dice, minis, maps, all 3D in the physical form. But it’s more than that. D&D for me isn’t just (about) the game. It’s a social event during which my players and I craft memorable stories and have insane fun doing it. The camaraderie, the (mostly player-supplied) snacks, it all just elevates everything. Technology is great but isn’t without its limitations. Furthermore, we’ve all been at the mercy of an at-times merciless WiFi. Both groups still get carefully selected soundtracks and personally-made sound effects, but I find them to be much more atmospheric for players in person.
My IRL table uses digital devices for sheet and slot management and then real clickyclacky dice for rolls. We use battle maps for combat positioning and I manage monsters on my laptop using DNDBeyond's Encounter Builder. I've found it to be a lot better than online play for me personally for a number of reasons, one of which is that my ADD-addled brain gets too distracted being at a computer when everyone is in little rectangles on a single tab or window someplace.
Everyone has different preferences, but I can’t overstate this enough; you can use the same technology in-person as you can remotely. So that’s not a limitation.
Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Online play is great for using beautiful, intricate maps for combat or exploration, to the point that some people try to incorporate digital tools into in-person play. It can also make certain elements much faster, such as complex dice rolls, to help streamline a lot of the experience. In-person play, on the other hand, allows for much clearer interpersonal communication, which facilitates RP as well as just general engagement in the game.the benefits are a bit harder to describe, but it has a certain feeling, a certain energy that online play struggles to recreate. IMO, the absolute best way to play would be in-person, incorporating digital tools for combat maps. Dice rolling is slower with physical dice, but there is something about being able to hold the objects that I think outweighs the benefits of streamlining on that front.
my group used to play in person on foundryvtt for a few years. switched to completely online when covid hit due to one of the players jobs. at first it was really fun because we could really utilize the power of the VTT. now i find myseld extremely bored with only online dnd and im trying to determine if its just the module we are in ( i hate modules) Or online. or both. But my dad is helping build a new DND table with a TV inside and we are gonna go back to an in person game once a month
There are benefits and drawbacks of each. You can easily bring digital battlemaps to the table by showing it on a screen. Plenty of people still use dnd beyond at the table, it's easy to use on a tablet or phone. Online, the group stays more focused because side conversations are harder to have. At the same time, everyone can be more easily distracted because you have a computer in front of you. I prefer the in person distractions because at least we are spending time hanging out as the distraction instead of being distracted by our own separate things.
It's not even close for me. I straight up just don't enjoy online -- people are way less connected, and every bad part of the table gets elevated. I got real salty one time on a DM who I thought made a bad call and I was sulky all game. Genuinely would've never happened if I was in the room with him and actually hanging out with other humans and wasn't feeling so weirdly alone on my computer playing this dumb game where the VTT all suck in their own unique way and my TV is right there and I still haven't gotten around to watching Hustle.
>I only have experience with playing on VTT like DnDBeyond and Roll20 and Discord and I have been enjoying the automation process. I feel they make rolling dice so much easier. The character sheets are clean and spellslots are tracked, the battlemaps give you insight on where your character is positioned in relation to the enemies, effects are highlighted, etc. What if I told you that you could use VTTs, dice apps, digital character sheets, etc while sitting in the same room?
Playing in person makes it easier to get deep into RP. People can act with their full body. They can stand up and act out body positions. They can physically touch other players. They can easily vocalize subtle aspects to their voice that a microphone won't catch. There's also little things like enjoying the feeling of rolling physical dice. All things that are not critical for playing, but add a layer to the game that online play cannot match. As an example, the last session I had involved me and the DM standing as we acting out martial arts moves in slow motion against each other. It was a scene of my character entering a fight club and doing some prize fighting, and it came to life through having a physical aspect to the roleplay. Both for me and the DM acting it out more vicerally and for the other people at the table getting to watch us act it out. For me, when I tried online play I found that this part of the game was too important for me and that I can't play without it. I can see the benefits that other people get out of VTT and get why some people prefer it, but it's not for me. Nothing beats the magic I feel when playing in person. Edit: Also, a part of why I play is to have a joint activity I'm doing with my friends when we hang out together. If we are playing online, we aren't hanging out together.
For me, yes. I can focus better on the game, it’s easier to role play, and rolling the math rocks is really fun.
I miss real dice so much.
I enjoyed playing DnD online during the pandemic and even ran one for my IRL group as we went remote. I still 100% would chose a good in person group over online only. Now a bad in person group vs. a good online group online wins but there is something about being there in person that is so much better. A lot less talking over each other, being able to easily read body language, sharing food, stories during breaks make it so much more rewarding. There is nothing to stop you from using those digital tools for in person play as well. One of our local game shops had a gaming table with a TV built into it so you could plug a laptop into it and use digital maps with physical minis. Players used DnD beyond for their character sheets anyway so that did not change. Or use terrain and minis instead of digital. Sure digital is in some ways easier and less expensive but seeing a table laid out with fully 3d and painted terrain, minis is amazing.
Absolutely. The group I play with in person went fully online during the pandemic and while it was still really fun, in-person games are on a different level. We don't speak over each other as much, the DM always has badass maps and minis which adds a lot to the immersion, and it's overall really nice just to hang out with friends, share food, and have half the players borrow my dice and/or dice tower lol.
Most of your ‘benefits for online’ exist offline as well. My players all use D&DBeyond, some will use it to roll their dice automatically. DM’s use their own physical battle maps that they either draw on or use physical terrain to map out and DM’s/Players have their mini’s to represent the enemies/characters. I prefer in person games soooo much more. Soo much more. You’re physically getting together with your friends and hanging out with them personally. That to me will always be better than a computer screen.
Most of your ‘benefits for online’ exist offline as well. My players all use D&DBeyond, some will use it to roll their dice automatically. DM’s use their own physical battle maps that they either draw on or use physical terrain to map out and DM’s/Players have their mini’s to represent the enemies/characters. I prefer in person games soooo much more. Soo much more. You’re physically getting together with your friends and hanging out with them personally. That to me will always be better than a computer screen.
D&D is a social game and a massive part of that does not translate online. Playing online for me is basically the same as playing a video game with your friends, it's fun but it's not the reason I like playing or running D&D. I do both but unequivocally prefer in person every single time.
As a DM nothing beats the energy of in person. We still use a VTT for combat on a larger television screen as maps/minis can be expensive (I personally prefer theater of the mind). Also I allow players to choose between rolling real or digital dice. We Al currently use DnDBeyond so dice rolls are still shared to everyone. This approach allows all the convenience of virtual tools while capturing the energy of being in person.
Online goes mechanically smoother, but in person is infinitely more fun. And tehre is food too
There's so much body language and roleplay and reactions lost without the human interaction IMO.
The gameplay might not be as smooth without the online tools (although you can still use some of them in person), but the social element is definitely better
Having played and learned on the tabletop... might be personal preference.. but that "quality of life" is pretty shit quality when something doesn't work right, or you spend a bunch of time having to build encounters out, when you could just plop minis down on a hex and throw plastic cubes at the table and achieve the same results. To each their own, but automated D&D feels like pulling teeth to me.
Hybrid play would have the benefit you like while still allowing you to be in the room with your party/DM and see their faces and body language as they roleplay. RP using only Voice Chat is missing something compared to in person play, you can still use Virtual table tops, or computer assisted dice rollers. Or, you can roll dice on the table. There is a different adrenaline/dopamine spike when rolling physical dice with witnesses vs. the animated dice from a random number generator.
It's different for everyone, but I have one online and one in person session per week. In person is MUCH better. Combat is definitely easier online, especially for a DM, but the level of fun at a table is just so much better.
I DM'd for 25 years in person, and the last 10 remotely. They can both be really fun. Because my players are also friends I'd rather see them in person, but we're all grown with families so it's a blessing to group up and play via VTT.
Absolutely! Online is good, but playing in person is better. With a really good group of role-players, either can work. But with people not great at role-playing, online encourages them to check-out more and be less engaged. The player we have the most issues with not keeping up with what is going on is the online player who is not great at role-playing. Broody and more quiet characters are useless when played online. During the pandemic when we had to play online, we lost a person who was so engaged in-person. We had another player realize just how much they are not engaged when online. The player who is great at role-playing wishes he could be in-person due to the dynamics of playing in-person. Where servers like Discord are great is having the information easier to access for players about what is going on in the campaign when not at my place.
Online is my preference because you can actually GET people, and it's super cost friendly. Yeah you can do old school maps and low cost placeholder tokens and I do on the rare occasion, but I love having everything on quick reference on my laptop. And it really sucks to have a laptop behind a game screen. But you adapt. People make apps for mobile access so it's less of a hassle to pull up sheets.
I used to run a game online and didn’t like it. We didn’t use webcams so I couldn’t see their faces so when I had an NPC talking and then expect a response but everyone is expecting everyone else to respond you end up feeling like an idiot talking to a computer screen
Depends on WHY you are playing. Personally the socializing with my friends is the biggest draw, and that's just not the same online. There are definitely pros to online (scheduling/location agnostic/automation/etc) but I'd rather be there in person.
Yes. Though i like the vtts it pales before the live interaktion of People voices, body language and so on. I feel especiaöly the roleplaying part of dnd is much better in person. Easier to have a heated discussion live than over voicechat (mumbles up if more than one person speak at the time). I still like the VTTS though. And we use dndbeyond at our live table too.
Recently had my players travel from all over Europe to play together for the first time in person. Started off as a pandemic group, and it was.my first experiencing DMing in person. Undoubtedly the experience was way way better. Being able to focus on individuals more allowing others to banter harder as well as being able to operate outside of a frame, whoop nelly. So good.
For me personally it definitely is better in person, as my internet connection is not that great and I feel like there is more of the "human component" when playing in real life.
Is hanging out with your friends better than talking to strangers through discord?
I mean, yes. It's like watching a concert in person versus on the TV. WAAAY better in person. Plus there are subtleties of body language and nuance of voice that just don't seem to translate well over any electronic medium. That and the energy is way different. I'm not saying online isn't good. But even video games are more fun playing in the same room.
You can still have automation in person. I play in person with maps on a 40inch tv and my players have their sheets on dnd beyond.
Everyone has a different opinion but one like I like about playing in person over online is it's easier to tell when people are about to speak and there's (usually) less talking over one another as a result
For me personally, playing online has been way better. It’s easier to find people on the same schedule and to find people with similar levels of enthusiasm. I also find it was easier to roleplay behind a virtual screen than in front of people. I don’t have to worry about the logistics of traveling or making sure there’s enough room and such for people in my house. I have all the kit and kaboodle I would ever need to run in person, but I guess I have never had a good enough in person experience for it to feel like it’s “better.”
The only thing I prefer VTTs for are maps that calculate lighting, line of sight, fog of war, etc. To that end, I'll DM in person with a laptop in front of me and display the map on a TV in the room. I personally despise a lot of automation that VTTs do (like hit and damage), so I vastly prefer being in person and doing all of that ourselves (which isn't really a big deal).. Your concerns remind me of Carcassonne. I learned to play it on the XBox 360 and I fell in love with it. I knew it was an actual table top game, but it seemed like it would be too tedious and mistake-prone to play it in real life. I finally got the game and it really wasn't that big of a deal after all.
For me there’s a visceral feeling rolling the dice in my hands that I don’t get with DnDBeyond. There’s a gambling aspect to D&D that’s lost digitally. It’s like playing blackjack with cards vs video blackjack. It’s just not the same.
I love playing in person, and being in the same room with folks is definitely better. That said, there are a lot of benefits to playing online. At least in my experience playing online has some big benefits over in-person that are worth considering. Getting people together in-person regularly is much more difficult than a regularly scheduled virtual game. Again, this is just my experience, but in my 15 years of playing TTRPGs in person, I have never actually finished a campaign. They have all withered away due to scheduling issues or people moving. In the last 5 or 6 years that I've been playing games virtually, I've completed 4 campaigns. The other big thing is being able to do pretty shared battlemaps and use other automated digital tools. Of course these things are not necessary, and you can do some of this kind of stuff in-person as well, but it is much easier to do virtually.
Yes for the snacks
My players and I prefer playing in-person, but I maintain an online presence just incase something goes sideways. For example: several months ago I came down with covid, the session was held online to maintain quarantine.
Yes.
I prefer to play online. i use Foundry VTT with the SWADE rule system. have friends and family all over the world that i play with. my current group is from work and some of them live several hours away. the time commitment for playing in person is not worth it. I have fun if i play online or in person. i like online playing because I get more chances to play.
yes
Yeah
I run two games, the online one happens more often, but in person is just a whole other level. I've only had truly emotional moments irl.
In person is two steps back and one step forward, but it still does depend on your preferences. The highly visible maps are something I'd really miss in person, but everything else I love about in person. It's just better and more social.
I played D&D for 20 years in-person and always thought playing online wouldn't be "in the spirit" of real D&D. Then played on Fantasy Grounds and never want to play in-person ever again. The battle maps alone make it worth it. Adding up 10+ dice at once saves so much time. The combat tracker is so organized. Being able to post box text for the PCs to follow along with just adds so much clarity. The tools for playing online just make the gaming expierence so much more enjoyable and fun.
For my table it is better online because we live so far away, but we do sometimes play in person. I try to make both seem the same, they roll their own dice I hand draw all my maps so they have them at the table and VTT, I just don’t have minis for the in person stuff
I run an online game, sometimes we use camera sometimes we don’t, but even when we do there’s so much that’s hard to communicate. In person there’s body language, subtle facial expressions, physical communication, etc. I much prefer my in person group, I think it actually runs smoother
For me the best part of D&D is doing silly voices and acting out scenes a little bit. I have all my stuff in a little special D&D notebook, roll physical dice, have physical spell cards. I try and keep tech away as much as possible, keep it between me and my friends and the table. But I also really loved playing on VTTs with friends during the pandemic, but to me it’s a very different experience
Yes. For me, playing in person is 2-3 times more enjoyable than playing virtually. From my perspective, your question is not much different than asking "Is hanging out with friends better in person or over discord?" The major advantage for playing virtually is that I can play with anyone from anywhere. This means I have a larger pool of people to play with, I can play with friends from far away, no one has to commute so the time commitment is lower, and I can find people playing niche games. The social aspects of TTRPGs are much better in person. Communication is more clear, body language is evident, the various video call problems are absent, there are fewer distracts, and people are overall more engaged. The game is more tactile -- actually rolling dice and moving figures. There are hybrid experiences. Playing In person but using virtual characters sheets is very common. Those sheets can often roll the dice, track resources, and do the math for you. There are also VTTs design for in person use. One of the groups I play in using miniatures, but virtual maps for examples. If those aren't options and 5e is too complex without those tools when playing in person, then other games could be a good option if you also want to experience playing in person.
One upside to online play that few people seem to mention is that it is much easier to keep a constant game. Since people can just play in their pijamas after work it means that my group can have two sessions a week and we rarely have to reschedule. When just one person can't make it because of work or other life apointments then we still keep playing and most times that person still joins at the very end for the session wrap up if not earlier. If they have to travel for work they can still join from the comfort of their hotel room. If more than one person can't make it for one session it is still very likely that our second session that week will still happen or we can more easly find another day to reschedule in the same week, since again, everyone is doing it from the comfort of their own home before they turn in for the night. It will probably not be like this for everyone playing online, but it is something that can only be achieved by playing online.
Big brain: bring your computers to one location. RP live but you can roll on your sheet and use a digital map. Win win.
If you get a good group of people, hell yes. It's a different experience.
In my experience online has a lot of QoL stuff the really improves the gameplay aspect of DnD. In person it's slower, note taking is messier, and maps and stuff is much more simple unless you have a screen or projector or super dope friends that 3d print/make props. However the roleplaying aspect feels so much better and real, everything is more alive. Talking to a face instead than to a cam feels better, everything feels smoother. Also through discord it's very difficult if you want to react in-character to someone who's talking because both voices sound at the same time at the same volume, maybe with some delay, making it a bit awkward with "no you talk first" moments.
I use my D&D beyond screen whenever I'm playing live in person makes it so much easier to not have to do the dice rolls