Up until yesterday, I had hopes that we would be able to continue with the face to face gaming schedule. Unfortunately, as the reality sets in, this is becoming less likely, so I am taking steps now to convert to online formats.
I have configured a Discord server for our use, for voice chat. Conceivable it will be usable for video as well, but prior efforts have shown that to be difficult and unreliable.
I have also configured our Fantasy Grounds instance for multiple players – fortunately with my Unity Ultimate license there is no additional cost required. The big task I face is now programming in the characters, at least at a rudimentary level, so that they are usable in the tool.
The real challenge will of course be getting all the players connected correctly. In practice, one microphone and computer per family should be sufficient, though a computer per player would be preferable. However, it will require some remote or door-to-door tech support in a few cases, after the challenges we had during prior attempts.
As a side benefit – the session editing will be much simpler, since I will only have a single camera stream to filter.
The other benefit – though I am not sure if I will try it at first, is that this allows for online streaming of the game live during the session. That does introduce another host of technical challenges, and is completely optional, but it is an option at least. At a minimum, this might open the game to a new audience, and help grow the overall channel.
