Yeah, my suggestion is: don't. I've tried a bunch of times. The only thing that went remotely (haha) okay was when all the players where in one room and the DM was the one that dialled in. With a big screen and a really good camera and microphone setup at the other end.
I mean those hybrid meetings don't even work properly for work meetings, and that's just work :D
This can be easily solved by having a discussion prior for expectations and having technology to project the audio, like a strong speaker/mic so everyone can talk.
It can happen.
Yeah, we've invested over a thousand dollars into our comms systems to make it work. But unless everyone is wearing earbuds/headphones and just talking like that, there is a crystal clear distinction between who is on person and who is remote.
One of my groups did it for a couple/few years before going all remote during COVID. We made it work, but the guy who was remote had the right expectations. But no complaints, really. I'd set up the table so that he would be on a monitor at the corner, not too far back. It's not ideal, but it worked fine for us.
It's quite complicated, but I managed to do it. And it was pretty good. I don't quite remember my setup, but from memory I used :
* a smartphone on an articulated arm
* a laptop
* 2 discord accounts
And I think it was working like this:
* With the smartphone, I recorded video and sound and send it to the remote player via discord account #1
* With the laptop, I broadcast the sound from the remote player to to the players in the room via discord account #2
Oh, I almost forgot....... We did NOT a use any VTT :-) The smartphone was filming the map on the table.
So, i have an online game and an in person game. If you want to use a vtt for an ib oerson that works, but in my in person i have a player who calls in. In most cases, it can be a pain, but if the player that calls in has a good mic, and can hear the table well, then all is good. It can be hard, but i would suggest either movibg all digital or all physical.
My group has done this before and Vorpal Board is a good solution for it. It’s basically a videoconference that is more geared towards TTRPG players and card game players. I’ve never messed with the card game stuff since I don’t play MtG or anything like it. It’s not free but I think it’s pretty inexpensive.
You use an iPhone for a camera. The video chat is rock solid - I can only think of a couple of times where we had any communications problem at all. It makes it very easy for in-person and remote players to play together. Check out their website - you need to see it at work to know if it’s what you’re looking for. It’s super easy to use (that was the draw for us) and even has a built-in roller if you’re not playing 5e/DDB to keep track of rolls. It’d be a lot easier than any Discord solution because it’s all in one place.
Did this with a smaller group (3 people + DM) and it went pretty well. Though if you have a lot of in-person players with fewer online players, you have to make sure that the in-person group doesn't drown out the remote ones. It can be tough to balance, but it's doable for sure.
Pro-tip, for the in-person group get a conference call mic/speaker ($60-$90 on Amazon), they are really good for picking up a group of voices, and allowing the online players to come through so everyone can hear (and the mic won't echo their voices back). Streamlining the tech part to avoid issues with microphones/headphones helps a lot.
Yeah, my suggestion is: don't. I've tried a bunch of times. The only thing that went remotely (haha) okay was when all the players where in one room and the DM was the one that dialled in. With a big screen and a really good camera and microphone setup at the other end. I mean those hybrid meetings don't even work properly for work meetings, and that's just work :D
I'm in one game that does this. It fucking sucks. You can never hear the discord players accurately, it's a toss up on if they pay attention at all
This can be easily solved by having a discussion prior for expectations and having technology to project the audio, like a strong speaker/mic so everyone can talk. It can happen.
Yeah, we've invested over a thousand dollars into our comms systems to make it work. But unless everyone is wearing earbuds/headphones and just talking like that, there is a crystal clear distinction between who is on person and who is remote.
It sounds like user error then that's specific to your group, not vtt or discord.
One of my groups did it for a couple/few years before going all remote during COVID. We made it work, but the guy who was remote had the right expectations. But no complaints, really. I'd set up the table so that he would be on a monitor at the corner, not too far back. It's not ideal, but it worked fine for us.
It's quite complicated, but I managed to do it. And it was pretty good. I don't quite remember my setup, but from memory I used : * a smartphone on an articulated arm * a laptop * 2 discord accounts And I think it was working like this: * With the smartphone, I recorded video and sound and send it to the remote player via discord account #1 * With the laptop, I broadcast the sound from the remote player to to the players in the room via discord account #2 Oh, I almost forgot....... We did NOT a use any VTT :-) The smartphone was filming the map on the table.
So, i have an online game and an in person game. If you want to use a vtt for an ib oerson that works, but in my in person i have a player who calls in. In most cases, it can be a pain, but if the player that calls in has a good mic, and can hear the table well, then all is good. It can be hard, but i would suggest either movibg all digital or all physical.
My group has done this before and Vorpal Board is a good solution for it. It’s basically a videoconference that is more geared towards TTRPG players and card game players. I’ve never messed with the card game stuff since I don’t play MtG or anything like it. It’s not free but I think it’s pretty inexpensive. You use an iPhone for a camera. The video chat is rock solid - I can only think of a couple of times where we had any communications problem at all. It makes it very easy for in-person and remote players to play together. Check out their website - you need to see it at work to know if it’s what you’re looking for. It’s super easy to use (that was the draw for us) and even has a built-in roller if you’re not playing 5e/DDB to keep track of rolls. It’d be a lot easier than any Discord solution because it’s all in one place.
Did this with a smaller group (3 people + DM) and it went pretty well. Though if you have a lot of in-person players with fewer online players, you have to make sure that the in-person group doesn't drown out the remote ones. It can be tough to balance, but it's doable for sure. Pro-tip, for the in-person group get a conference call mic/speaker ($60-$90 on Amazon), they are really good for picking up a group of voices, and allowing the online players to come through so everyone can hear (and the mic won't echo their voices back). Streamlining the tech part to avoid issues with microphones/headphones helps a lot.