# On-line role-playing chat rooms? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922 "2004-04-25T16:36:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NardoPolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NardoPolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NardoPolo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/1 "2004-04-25T16:36:23Z")
I’m part of a group that plays role-playing games occasionally. But it’s not always possible for us to get together. We talked about perhaps doing it all by chat (using Yahoo chat perhaps), and that has some possibilities, except that we need some way to roll dice. So is there any online chat services that provides a way to roll dice? If you’ve used one or more, which do you prefer? ---
**Author:** ![NardoPolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NardoPolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NardoPolo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/2 "2004-04-25T16:53:21Z")
Or, is there any other method that you use for long-distance role-playing games? Like phone or video conferencing, or anything else? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/3 "2004-04-25T16:56:18Z")
ROFLMAO I play Everquest…I jokingly refer to it as a chat room with killing=) Honestly - you should check into it…I grew up playing D&D, and it is worlds better because i dont have to scrounge for people local to me, the graphics are wonderful because you can see everything, and the program has all the mobs treasures and locations built in. Nobody has to sit out and be DM=) You have your choice of races, classes and religions within the framework. The game is relatively inexpensive, you can probably just get the original trilogy for 10-15 $US to try it out [CAVEAT!!! DO NOT BUY IT FROM EBAY!!!you need an original code key from the package to start an account, but the good side is, like crack the first use [ok, 30 days] is free] The accounts after the free trial are $13US a month. I play on Solusek Ro server, they have something on the order of 350,000 people playing on 30 or so servers. At any given time there are 3000 people online on my server, so there is almost always someone I can game with, or I can solo, or do tradeskills if any of my regular playing buddies are offline. [http://eqlive.station.sony.com/index.jsp](http://eqlive.station.sony.com/index.jsp) h, anybody else here play EQ? ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/4 "2004-04-25T18:09:40Z")
Check out [www.openrpg.com](http://www.openrpg.com). They seem to have what you might be looking for, and a decent community behind it. ---
**Author:** ![NardoPolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NardoPolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NardoPolo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/5 "2004-04-25T18:43:52Z")
**aruqvan** , I’m glad I could provide you with some comic relief. :rolleyes: **ArrMatey!** , that seems to be exactly what I’m looking for. I see it contains a map as well, which is more than I expected. Many thanks. ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/6 "2004-04-26T02:01:43Z")
I remember Yahoo chat having a dice roll function. You’d just type “/dice” to roll one. They may have changed it since then. Make sure to keep any chat room private and invite-only, else youll get a bunch of wanderers (like me!) stumbling in, totally confused, trying to asl you (not like me!). ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/7 "2004-04-26T03:43:23Z")
I’ve never had to “scrounge” for D&D players… but then again, I live in Hellizona. ---
**Author:** ![Chotii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Chotii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chotii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/8 "2004-04-26T03:53:52Z")
I like the MUSH format myself. I’ve played on a MUSH (AmberMUSH, based on the Zelazny series) for 10 years now. Of course, it’s real-time - not a bulletin board, where things can be posted and read later - but it allows for any degree of description, limited only by the ability of the players to write, and can support quite literally any number of players. Though when more than 5 or 6 get in a room at once, things tend to get disjointed unless somebody is functioning as the GM/DM. I really like MUSH. It’s like a MUD without a goal. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Serpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@Silver\_Serpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Serpentine)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/9 "2004-04-26T05:39:01Z")
I RPed online A LOT. About 95% of my RP experience. Most of it was one on one, orw max 3 or 4 people. Rarely a storyteller. Due to the group of us having been together for YEARS, and half of us had met/slept with the other half (heh), we “role” played instead of “roll” play. In other words, we all had Csheets, and we’d figure out what our char would be able to do, andhow likely and stuff. It took a lot of trust, but no one cheated. Chars still died, failed, etc. ANYWAY. You could just roll the dice and type up what you rolled. I did have a good rolling program a friend of mine made for us (using the White Wolf system), but I deleted the bookmark for some strange reason. Now I really wish I still had that link. And I feel a sudden urge to role play. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/10 "2004-04-26T07:31:53Z")
IRC is good for RPGs. Assuming you don’t need a map function. Which I do just fine without. In fact, I find maps/battlegrids slow things down, without adding anything useful for my style of play. There’s a number of dice scripts out there. I and both groups I’m involved in use this one: /roll /me throws $$1 kobolds at a wall to see how many stick: \*\*\* $r(1,$$1) (You can change the flavour text, of course (In fact I insist you do. Grr! Grr! Mine!). ‘/me rolls a perfectly formed $$1 sided die’ is the standard, but I know NOONE who has kept it.) If you’re unfamiliar with scripts, to roll a die, you’d type /roll 10 (for instance), and the output would be thus: - Tengu throws 10 kobolds at a wall to see how many stick: \*\*\* 8 (Or whatever the result rolled that time is.) There are also scripts for rolling multiple dice (of the same size) at once. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/11 "2004-04-26T17:03:16Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > IRC is good for RPGs… **Tengu** ’s advice about the mechanics is pretty on the money, but I want to throw in my horse in this race, AOL Instant Messenger. If you’re familiar with the RhyDin environment of AOL, free form role-playing games, or sims (what I do), AIM’s chat rooms work great. Dice is employed with //roll-dice#-sides#. It’s pretty easy, IMHO, to IM someone and invite them to a chat room. Everything’s integrated, and you don’t even have to use software, there’s a JAVA interface as well. I take it you’re trying to tranpose table topping or LARPing? The interface is nowhere as near as important as the scheduling. Depending on the size of your group, that’ll be a logistical nightmare. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/12 "2004-04-27T00:20:35Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > h, anybody else here play EQ? I started out playing pen and paper as well before I found EQ. Rules are somewhat similar. If you can understand D + D, you can understand EQ. I played since pre kunark til just recently on Terris Thule. About OP, have you guys tried setting up ADD video games (Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter Nights, etc…) over the internet? Set up a server with a broadband connection and have everyone just remotely dial in and play together. My friends and I use to do that til EQ. ---
**Author:** ![NardoPolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NardoPolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NardoPolo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-role-playing-chat-rooms/241922/13 "2004-04-27T11:14:51Z")
**AzRaek said** : > [@](#): > > I remember Yahoo chat having a dice roll function. You’d just type “/dice” to roll one. They may have changed it since then. Thanks for the tip – I found the /dice functon in the Yahoo Groups section, but it seems to be disabled. I may have to experiment with it more. **Rysler Said:** > [@](#): > > I take it you’re trying to tranpose table topping or LARPing? The interface is nowhere as near as important as the scheduling. Depending on the size of your group, that’ll be a logistical nightmare. There’s only 4 of us, but there’s 90 miles in between us. Yes, scheduling is difficult, but would be much easier if it didn’t require 3 hours of driving total for us to all get together. **Rysler and Tengu suggested IRC and AOL Instant Messenger** Admittedly, I don’t know much about those interfaces. I guess I need to look into them and see how they work. Thanks for the tips on how to roll dice there – that’s an important piece. Thanks, y’all!