what do you need to play on dnd beyond
New Player's Guide: How to Play D&D Online
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Welcome to New Player'due south Guide, the starting time finish on your journey to playing D&D. This series has advice for players who've just joined their outset D&D campaign, as well as Dungeon Masters who want help taking their new campaign to the next level. To meet the other manufactures in this series, check out the New Actor'due south Guide tag—and for the brass-tacks information on how to beginning playing D&D, click on the New Role player Guide link at the top of this page!
This 7th installment of the New Player's Guide series is for players and Dungeon Masters who can't find a D&D group locally, or who social distancing and stuck inside their homes because of the COVID-nineteen coronavirus. D&D is all-time played in a identify where yous and your friends can all hear each other conspicuously, see the map and minis perfectly, laugh equally loud as you desire, and share snacks together. You might not be able to share snacks over a video phone call, but with the right tools and a few all-time practices, yous can still take a perfect digital D&D game. Here's how.
What Yous Demand
All y'all truly need to play D&D online is an internet connection good enough to stream video and audio, a platform to telephone call on, a pair of headphones, a microphone, and a camera. Most laptop computers have a congenital-in mic and webcam, and even though they aren't streaming-quality, they're more than enough to get the job done. If you lot want to go one step beyond, a dedicated table microphone and webcam will give you some extra audio and video quality that will brand your online game easier to await at and listen to.
If yous only accept money for one, prioritize getting a good microphone. Video that streams in 4K is a luxury, but high-quality audio is practically a necessity. It's so much easier to play D&D if your audio isn't choppy or distorted. The Snowball by Blue Microphones is a bang-up option for near-professional sound quality for nether $100, and the Yeti is a stride up, if you think you might also want to get into streaming in the future. Both of these microphones connect to your computer via USB, so you don't need whatever specialized dongles to hook them up.
If you don't have access to a computer, most cell phones have an uncommonly practiced built-in photographic camera and microphone. You can make a elementary phone stand using a stack of books and a pop-out grip.
There are lots of free tools that you lot can use to create a video call. Discord is the most popular pick, and it'south uncomplicated to use. Skype is another option, and information technology comes pre-loaded on Windows computers. Both Discord and Skype have free telephone app versions that allow you make calls with friends using the computer version, too. Zoom is a high-quality alternative that most online D&D streamers use to collaborate, just information technology comes with a price tag if you want to use it for group calls.
What You Want
Though it's uncomplicated enough to become the basic tools you need to play D&D over an internet connexion. However, there are a few other optional tools that might make your game more than fun and convenient.
Digital Toolset. D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset of D&D. Obviously, we recommend that DMs create a campaign using D&D Beyond and accept players create characters in that campaign to take full advantage of content sharing. That fashion, all the players in the entrada tin can create characters using options from all of the sourcebooks that the DM owns on D&D Beyond. There'southward a lot of free content on D&D Beyond, too—including all of the content in the D&D Basic Rules, which is enough to get your kickoff entrada off the footing.
Virtual Tabletop. Though non strictly necessary, a virtual tabletop is an first-class tool for playing online. It's especially useful if you play using maps and miniatures at dwelling, since yous tin can upload maps and create tokens for characters and monsters. You may non demand a virtual tabletop if you're playing a game in the Theater of the Mind and using D&D Across to collect character sheets and compendium content in ane identify, but they tin exist a lifesaver for online groups interested in tactical gameplay.
A virtual tabletop also lets you share images and handouts with your players. Mayhap nearly importantly, things similar monsters, classes, initiative trackers, and items are fully integrated into the organisation, letting you automatically add bonuses to dice rolls and take advantage of other automated quality of life improvements. In order to get these options added to your virtual tabletop, you'll have to purchase the relevant book on that service. If you've already purchased a physical copy of the Player's Handbook and a digital copy on D&D Beyond, paying for it a third fourth dimension might seem excessive. If you think the ease of automation is worth $thirty, then go for information technology! Otherwise, yous can make exercise with gratis tools and your own mental math.
Some popular virtual tabletops include Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and Astral Tabletop. Roll20 and and Astral Tabletop both have free options, if y'all want to try the tool out before you pay for it.
Shared Virtual Dice. Information technology's easy enough for players to curl physical dice on their desks and telephone call out their results. Still, if y'all're playing with people who you don't trust not to lie nigh their dice rolls, it tin can exist useful to use a platform that includes virtual dice and then that everyone can see the rolls. All major virtual tabletops take this feature, but there are free standalone shared rollers too. Some include Roll Dice with Friends, Rolz Dice Room, and Ringlet for Your Party.
A Player Customs. Having people to talk to about D&D outside their gaming group is a luxury not anybody has. If you can't find plenty players for your online game or simply want to detect more people to talk about D&D with, the D&D Beyond Discord Community is a great place to outset. You can click on the Discord icon in the black ribbon at the pinnacle of whatever page on D&D Beyond to get an invite to our Discord server.
Avrae. This sophisticated Discord bot is a must-accept for online campaigns that use D&D Beyond and Discord. It'south full of automated features and virtual dice, similar to a virtual tabletop. If you lot want all of the virtual tabletop features but don't need tactical maps, Avrae might exist exactly what you're looking for.
Best Practices
At present that you have all the tools that yous demand, y'all should take a few minutes to learn some skilful habits for playing online. Most of these tips apply to playing in person as well, but since playing online is harder than playing in person, they're more important than ever. Share these tips with your friends on game day to help make your session smooth as silk.
Avoid Crosstalk. Even when playing in-person, information technology's expert to minimize "crosstalk," or talking over other people. Crosstalk is rude even yous're playing in the aforementioned room together, but when y'all're playing online, talking over someone might make information technology literally impossible to hear what they're saying. If you take something y'all tin say privately to another histrion while a 3rd player is talking, endeavour using your platform's text conversation to avert talking over one of your friends.
If crosstalk becomes a constant problem for your group, consider implementing a "hands up" system to assist people bespeak they desire to talk. Yous don't have to literally heighten your hand like you're in school. Simply type, "I take an thought," or something similar in text conversation. As long as your DM knows ahead of time that you're using a hands up system, they tin can use their power as the game'south referee to give you an opportunity to talk.
Stay Focused. It'southward easy to get distracted while playing D&D. Sometimes turns in combat tin take forever, and you only need to expect at your phone for a few seconds. It's not a sin to get distracted, but exist conscientious while playing D&D online: it'due south easier than ever to get distracted if you're playing on a computer. Information technology's then easy to pop open a new tab and coil through Twitter while your party's magician is taking their turn—and then of a sudden your DM has said your name 3 times because they need to know your AC because you lot're being attacked past two feces crawlers and a mummy. Simply you know the balance of focus and relaxation that works for you. Try to find it apace—and err on the side of staying off the internet, for anybody's sake.
Speak Clearly. Always attempt to speak clearly and into your microphone while playing online. Even if you have a expert microphone, information technology's just 1 more thing between your words and your friends' ears. Microphones and bad internet connections can misconstrue your vocalism. This can ruin your high-intensity in-character conversations, and crusade your DM to ask you over and once again to clarify which kobold yous're attacking in a tense combat. Fifty-fifty if your mic is perfect, mumbling or talking away from your microphone is a great way to make it impossible to hear you.
And for that affair, make sure that your chat app has the correct Sound Input and Audio Output devices selected before you start your phone call. It'due south easy for your computer to default to a mediocre born mic instead of your $100 podcast-quality mic without yous even realizing it.
Do you have any other tips for online D&D players? Let u.s.a. know in the comments! Next time on New Player'southward Guide, we dive into the world of tactical combat and help you create exciting gameplay in your combat encounters.
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James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-writer ofWaterdeep: Dragon Heist, Baldur'south Gate: Descent into Avernus,and theCritical Office Explorer's Guide to Wildemount,a fellow member of the Society Adepts,and a freelance author for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan . Y'all can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.
Source: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/750-new-players-guide-how-to-play-d-d-online
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