From Table to Tablet

FROM TABLE TO TABLET From Table to Tablet JODY FRYE

Mavis The Bard

FROM TABLE TO TABLET

Morrigan The Sorcerer

Barnaby The Fighter

Bartholomew The Barbarian

Hebi The Wizard

For those who don’t know, “Dungeons and Dragons” is a “tabletop role-playing game.” This means that a bunch of people gather around a table together, act out what their characters want to do in this fantasy adventure, and roll some dice to see how well they do at things.

Dungeons and Dragons is collective storytelling: collaboratively building a tale of epic, tragic, or comedic proportions, depending on how everyone wants to play and how the dice fall. High numbers are good, low numbers are bad - there’s a chance that any idea could succeed, or go terribly, terribly wrong. Usually, hilariously so. Finally, everyone plays their own main character, while one person plays the part of the narrator, describing the world and the other characters in it. But, most importantly, you get to hang out with your friends. It’s a wonderful way to see folks, catch up, be creative, and have a good time. You will always lose some dice rolling off the table, but the search to find them can be an adventure in itself.

Everyone usually brings some snacks, and while you’re chomping away at some new flavor of Kit-Kat, you’re also fighting off a thirty foot long crocodile, dancing at a magical nightclub, or exploring a subterranean forest of giant mushrooms. However, when you have to take away the “tabletop,” it makes things a bit more difficult.

There’s something intangible about the energy in the room when you play in person. The tension can be palpable in the air, much like for a theater production. Not to mention, it makes taking turns speaking a lot easier. When you’re in person, reading other people’s body languages and cues as to when they will and won’t speak is intuitive. When you’re looking at six small, somewhat pixelated images of people in their apartments on a small bar on your computer, it can be a lot more difficult to get those same feelings and cues.

When COVID 19 lockdowns started going into place, and meeting in person was no longer safe, we had to make a choice: stop playing, or find another way to play. Well, the show must go on, so we decided to make a virtual “table.”

Luckily, this wasn’t initially too difficult, because there were already a number of easy-to-use resources online. Roll20 is a website specifically designed to host tabletop games online, so we all made our accounts and prepped our webcams. We used the Discord app for our conversations and game music. When in person, we could share the various, multisided dice needed to play, but moving online obviously made this impossible. Luckily, “there’s an app for that!” Folks could either download one of those, or use Roll20’s build in command system, typing in “/roll 1d20” to take their chances. Fun fact, you can even ask Google-sensei to roll for you!

Even with these resources, the experience could be, well, bumpy. “Technical difficulties” plague any endeavor using technology, and playing online is certainly no exception. Computer, internet, and app issues were no strangers to our campaign as we took it to the virtual

A screenshot of online.Roll20

world. But, like much of any good improvisational game, you’ve got to learn to “roll” with the punches and go with the flow, and we did our best.

That being said, moving online provided unique opportunities as well.

Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I am not an artist. However, moving the maps we use online allowed me to incorporate other people’s art which I was given or found online. This lets us bring a bit more vibrance to the table than my abilities would have allowed on their own. Additionally, it allowed me to give one of my players a side experience that would have been impossible in person. I was able to have them log out, and simultaneously follow a separate narrative while the rest of the players continued to fight the enemies. If we had been playing in my apartment, I wouldn’t have been able to run these two things side by side, let alone keep certain surprises secret from the players. Playing online has also been nice for players who had to drive from further away to play. Now, everyone can just quickly log on (albeit with occasional issues), and not worry about the commute, saving everyone time. I’ve also been able to play with my friends and siblings back home, which has been a wonderful way to stay connected.

All in all, playing online hasn’t always been easy, but I’m happy that we’ve been able to continue playing. Playing online can’t compare with sitting around a real table; there’s just something in the air that’s lost. But, playing online is infinitely better than not playing at all. It’s always comforting to see your friends, and share those wonderful, crazy moments, regardless of how.

Making fantasy berry pies, knocking your companions down rocky slipand-slides, saving a baby dragon from a legion of spiders, or reincarnating a sentient mushroom assassin you’ve befriended into a child who doesn’t know how to speak and then teaching them to sing -

I could never give up these kinds of shenanigans. And, despite all of the other wrenches COVID 19 has thrown into the gears of everything, I’m glad that I don’t have to.