Gamers who are interested in trying out tabletop roleplaying online should check out the games detailed in this article, four classic RPG games with quickly-grasped rules that are easy to implement in chat clients like Skype, Discord or Roll20. Each of these roleplaying games also have interesting settings and premises that can draw in players and inspire them to craft fascinating stories together.
In this time of quarantines and social distancing, it's hard for people to hang with friends like they used to. Video games are a good fallback for people looking to have fun at home, but chat/video clients also lets friends and acquaintances get in touch with each other to catch up on old times. They can also get in touch to play tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, the predecessors to computer RPGs and a great way for players to craft stories with their own imaginations.
Certain "Virtual Tabletop" chat clients – Roll20 and Astral Tabletop, for instance – have special map modes, automated dice rollers, and digital character sheets that allow even the most complex tabletop games to be played easily online. These four games below, besides being fun and easy to pick up, focus on "Theater of the Mind" style roleplaying, making them very suitable for online play even in general chat clients like Discord or Skype:
Lady Blackbird: Sky Pirates, Swashbuckling, Magic and Romance
The 16-page roleplaying book Lady Blackbird, written by game designer John Harper, offers three special qualities for roleplaying novices starting their first game. Firstly, Lady Blackbird is free to . Secondly, it comes with pre-written character sheets, each describing a swashbuckling hero and explaining the rules in depth. Lastly, it comes with a pre-written story module: in a universe where Skyships traverse the breathable depths of space, Lady Blackbird hires a smuggler crew to spirit her away from the Imperial Planet and reunite her with her lover, the Pirate King Uriah Flint...
Quest: Straightforward, Intuitive Fantasy Adventure
For people who love the heroic fantasy genre but get intimidated by the complex rules of Dungeons & Dragons, Quest, published by the Adventure Guild in 2019, is a perfect gateway game to immerse themselves in the escapades of a classic adventuring party. Players only need to roll a single twenty-sided die when making attacks or taking actions, while class ability cards and an eloquently written rulebook let them quickly make fun characters that generate fascinating stories of magic and marvel.
Fiasco: The Coen Brothers Movie Simulator
Some roleplaying games are about wizards and spaceships. Fiasco is about horrible people cooking up a hustle that goes south fast. A slim volume published by Bully Pulpit Games, Fiasco is a narrative-focused RPG where players tell crime stories in the tradition of The Big Lebowski, or Burn After Reading. With a bowl of six-sided dice and set of plot twist charts to consult, players can spin their own yarns about schemes that collapse under the weight of greed and hubris.
Monster of the Week: Let's Split Up, Gang!
The go-to game for players who want to tell supernatural monster-busting stories in the vein of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Monster of the Week is built off of the straightforward and popular Apocalypse World system. Grab a pair of six-sided dice and choose the "Playbook" character sheet that best represents your favorite paranormal investigator: the "Professional" government agent, the "Monstrous" but sexy heartthrob, etc. Simple game mechanics called Moves and special rules for creating new Monsters to hunt keep the plot rolling and the tension high.
All the Tabletop RPGs above can be ed online from their home websites, which is particularly handy for friends and associates looking to get into tabletop gaming online on Discord or other chat clients. Pick the system that best matches the story to be told, and a splendid night at the virtual table is guaranteed!
