Setting Tone and Atmosphere at Your RPG Table
As vaccine rates in the US climb, some of us may be considering what a return to in-person RPG play looks like. While playing with my group digitally has had some unexpected benefits, I still long for the the experience of playing in the same room as my friends. Part of this is to avoid the inevitable tech issues that interfere with a good yarn, forcing you to repeat your narration or to recap for a player what happened before their turn. The ability to play on a grid for the first time (our group mostly does theater of the mind, but Roll20 provided too good an opportunity to resist) did not make up for wrestling with spotty internet or not getting to see my friends face to face.
There are certain things, spontaneous things, that can be hard to replicate playing over Roll20. One of my group members always brought a bag of Dove chocolates to each session. During a prison break sequence the party had to rally a bunch of prisoners to fight back against the guards. I offered them advantage on their persuasion rolls if they picked a chocolate at random and worked the inspirational message on the wrapper into their speech. It was a memorable moment that stemmed entirely from the fact that we were all in the same room.
Maybe the biggest regret of mine over the last year is that I wasn’t able to do Night Witches in person. Doing it digitally worked…
