Dungeons and Dragons: Screens vs Tables

“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don’t need any rules.”

Gary Gygax

Its been over a year since the last D&D game around an actual table, with actual people sharing an actual large pizza and beer. Yet another small pleasure in life killed off by the epidemic. Of course games are still out there…Roll20, Twitch and other platforms are there for the asking.

But its not the same, not for an old grognard who got into the back back in the days of Second Edition. Some of the best times of my life, damn good times as David Lee Roth once said.

Still, there are some advantages to the new way of doing things. Playing D&D via a screen, what the pros:

No one gets offending if you start looking at your phone while the wannabe actor in the group spends ten minutes roleplaying his elven rockstar bard.

You can mute the twenty minute argument from resident munchkin over why he can’t use his +20 Vorpal Sword of Awesomeness to murder a halfling village so he can steal their stuff.

No need to paint mini’s, or have a battle man (not sure if that counts as a pro.)

You can show up wearing a bathrobe and not much else, holding abttle of whiskey…no one is going to care. After all, they’re not really there.

Scheduling is easier. No need to work around babysitters/spouses/jobs/life in general in order to get out of the house.

The Cons:

Roll20 is confusing. The camaraderie of sitting around a table with actual human beings is missing, and with it all spontaneity. Someone’s Internet is always on the fritz. It sucks. It really sucks. It’s boring.

Sigh…I miss the old ways. Welcome to obsolescence…