Telepresence around the game table

As you know, I use a lot of technology in running my RPG campaigns. A laptop, intensely organized music playlists, projector-based maps and layered Photoshop files have become as important to me as dice and beer at the game table.

But I’ve never really had much success at remoting people in for gaming. Back in the late 90s, some friends and I decided that we could keep up our college RPG campaign via remote. We spent hours on WebRPG, a tabletop simulator that allowed you to “code” objects and build character sheets.

We spent forever getting the materials ready, but never even got to a full game. It was too much work, and in those pre-Skype days and dial-up modems, voice communication was spotty at best. The whole experience soured me on ever being able to pull off anything approaching the quality of a face-to-face game session.

But last week I was forced to face my prejudice.

Due to a child care issue, one of our players couldn’t be there, and the rest of the group suggested she remote in via laptop.

I downplayed it, remembering the horrid, crackling, delayed conversations and bland text chat we tried to have to satisfy our RPG jones a decade ago.

But they brought it up again. I gulped to myself, smiling outwardly. “We can try it … just to see how it goes,” I said.

In short, I’m thrilled to say, it was fantastic. At least from our perspective. A few things that came up worth noting:

It took a second computer: When she first remoted in, my carefully-crafted mood music went silent. iChat shuts down when you make calls, and trying to force the music ejected the player every time. I was heartbroken — the subtle music is one of the most mood-enhancing parts of my campaigns. But thankfully, another player came to the rescue with his laptop, and we were able to set her up on a shelf. Which brings me to…

It might not have been as good for her: When we saw the player, her head was almost life size and at eye level for everyone else. She was a core part of the game. However, she most likely spent most of her time looking at a wall opposite her, and occasionally an ear when someone moved into view. The ability to not turn her head and see the other players and action was likely more disconcerting to her than it was to us. In any case, it was better than the first time we tried it, and she was looking up my nostrils using my laptop’s webcam.

No dice: We quickly remedied this through creative use of an online dice roller. The player would use the online roller, and then make a targeted screen grab of the area and send it via chat. The result was a few seconds delayed, but worked quite well.

Voice: Due to feedback issues, we had to keep the volume on the laptop set at a level a little too low for her to keep up with our raucous antics. We could hear her most of the time, but there were times when I know she was trying to get a word in edgewise.

Maps and visuals: Most of the game’s map needs are done using a screen, so sending her screen grabs of maps was easy. If you’re using tabletops and miniatures, that may make things a little more complex.

So, is it for you? A lot of people have bemoaned not having nearby friends they can RPG with. It’s no substitute for getting around a game table, but if you can get three people in the room, and Skype/iChat in a couple of friends, you can still have a really great time.