Dungeons & Dragons: Guide to streaming your own tabletop game

Start at Critical Role’s upcoming animated series to Jeff Goldblum’s foray into the scene, one thing is certain: Tabletop actual play content is having its day in the sun. The pandemic’s creation of a content void fueled the rapid growth of the once basement-bound hobby, as Dungeons & DragonsOther popular tabletop role playing games such as Cthulhu Call Shadowrun they have become the core of a widely accepted, dare we say? CoolUnderground scene. Imagine early 2000s alt-rock, with more dice and more flannel.

If you’re here, you probably know this already. Do you want to begin streaming TTRPGs online? I’ve put together some tips below. (Alternatively, If you’re a total newbie, I recommend this article about where to start with D&D specifically.)

Make it unique

Assume you’re pitching your show for Mr. Twitchy. Ask yourself: “What original spin on actual play streaming can I offer?” Start from a place of your unique skills and perspective. Is there something that makes you a good GM, player or host of a channel? Do you find yourself funny? Are your character voices awe-inspiring? Is it possible to make soundscapes with your synth in real-time? You will attract people to your channel by being original. Although this is liberating it can be frustrating.

It’s okay to fail

Most success stories involve repeated failures that lead to one success. Your success will depend on your persistence more than your other skills. Failure won’t hurt your shot at channel growth, but fear of failure most definitely will. Even if an individual campaign falls apart, there’s a good chance folks who like your content will stick around for whatever you try next.

This is a job.

Not in the “get up and grind” become your own boss way, but in the standards that you hold yourself to about running late or skipping entirely. Take your schedule seriously and offer your collaborators and your audience explanations when a stream’s time changes or when you have to cancel. With your viewers, set a common expectation for communication and punctuality. Everyone should arrive on time and bring a drink.

Comedy and tragedy aren’t enemies

Tone in storytelling can be misunderstood to mean that all things work in harmony with that tone. With something like streaming TTRPGs, I believe the tendancy is to comedy. However, if we look at some of our favorite tabletop comedies, like The Adventure ZoneOder Dimension 20, They share a commonality, narrative depth. You will find more funny jokes the deeper the story is. Genre can help your brand, but it will also put more pressure on your team to meet certain expectations.

Be wise when choosing a game

When it comes to what game to stream, there’s no right answer, but there are several key factors to consider, the main one being interest. I like to support smaller creators whenever I can, but if you’re just getting started, Dungeons & Dragons (specifically 5th edition) has the largest built-in fanbase, and more importantly, the largest swathe of people who know the rules. Just like with sports, you’re less likely to engage people when they don’t know what’s happening.

If you’re not playing Dungeons & Dragons, another key factor to consider is how entertaining the game is to watch. While it all boils down to your personality, some games are more fun or interesting than others. A 10-hour game could be an example. Sid Meier’s Civilizations 6 might be fun for the players, but it doesn’t seem like the most broadly entertaining programming.

If you’re dead set against D&D, I strongly recommend picking a game that mechanically encourages collaborative problem solving, like Cthulhu Call Oder Blades in Dark.

Be careful when choosing your casting

If you, like me, avoid confrontation like it’s hot magma, you might have a hard time finding the right table of people for your game, because for every “yes” you offer, you’ll likely have to hand out four or five “no”s. While no one loves to see others rejected, being entertaining in stream is more than just being funny and adept at solving the puzzles of the game.

You will find the most talented stream players when you have a team player. People who don’t hog the spotlight, who work to tie their characters to others’, these are the people to say “yes” to. Improvisational skills are also high on my “nice-to-have” list, but nothing outweighs attitude. At the end of the day, if you’re trying to create a community, the people you choose to feature are your most valuable resource.

It’s also important to set boundaries for where the story and the action goes. Good safety tools are essential to ensure everyone feels at home around the table. John Stravropoulos pioneered the X-Card. It is an invaluable resource. So too is the concept of “lines and veils,” which should factor into your early pre-production meetings with your cast.

Part of building a community is also being mindful of the voices you’re inviting to the table. It is crucial to have representation. ParticularlyIn traditionally gatekept areas like TTRPGs. A community table of inter-sectional players can help make it clear that anyone is welcome and that your space offers safe spaces for those who are marginalized.

Community > audience

Streaming has been designed to encourage engagement. When you’re a less popular creator, there’s an expectation to engage with chat, to acknowledge people. Discord helps extend this community engagement to times when you’re not streaming.

It’s better for channel growth to have a community of five than an audience of 25, because those five will do a lot of outreach on your behalf. This isn’t some multilevel marketing sorcery; it’s just natural human behavior to want to share the things you enjoy with the people you care about. The same principle applies to Twitter and other social media platforms like Facebook for TTRPG members. Self-promo SaturdayThis is especially a good opportunity to connect with other creators and find cross-promotional opportunities.

Streaming platform & method

Twitch is home to the lion’s share of D&D TTRPG streamers. Streamlabs, OBS+StreamElements, and Streamlabs are two of the most common tools used for streaming to Twitch. Unfortunately, most Streamlabs’ features (including overlays that can prove very valuable for TTRPG streaming), are locked behind a $150/month payment wall. OBS or StreamElements is a more versatile, but less complex, option.

Players arrangement

Layout considerations include how many players will be on the screen at one time, how much you intend to incorporate secondary visuals and whether they are playing together IRL.

The players of Critical Role are often the focal point. Because it’s an IRL game, they also put the players horizontally on-screen. Matt Mercer is separated from everyone else, making it clear to a new viewer that he’s the DM.

By comparison, Check Ds Out informs both the target audience and the names of players and characters. This campaign has the DM at the center, with gameplay information in the upper right corner. As someone in the audience, I interpret this setup as more suitable for a role-play heavy game, since there’s a lack of real estate to portray combat visually, and because class and race aren’t indicated along with character name.

For Carnisideshow, the stream that I’m a part of, our real names and character names are included in our overlay, which cycles between that and our character’s class and race. In the upper left corner is the GM. The central panel shows the location or where the combat takes place in Roll20. Chris uses this to display character likenesses as well as world maps. This communicates an equal split of value between characters and players as well as the world’s development.

Musik

There’s a clear best choice for adding music to your streams and it’s Syrinscape. The platform is flexible, effective, and all you need to do to ensure you’re using music legally is to provide credit for the music that’s played. It’s up to you to decide where and how you want to use it, provided that the guidelines of Creative Commons are followed.

Visuals

A visual representation of the play is something that I think can be added to my game, even if it’s not mandatory. I’m admittedly most familiar with Roll20, which is a versatile, game-agnostic platform for visual representation of your characters in 2D space, and includes built-in dice rollers, distance measurers, and other combat-centric features. Alternatively, Fantasy Grounds has some excellent integrated exploration mechanics, and Tabletop Simulator is an open source option that’s probably the most flexible of the three. Each tutorial is worth watching, so you can choose what suits your needs best.

Video

In comparison to streaming video games, TTRPG streams often include a lot more … you. Camera quality and type are therefore more crucial from the beginning. Resolution, the quality of each frame, is an indicator of a camera’s performance. Frame rate refers to the number of frames per second. Higher frame rates mean more fluid movement.

The free versions of Zoom and Discord limit resolution at 720p and frame rate at 30 frames per second (the default for most laptops), so, for your players, camera resolution and frame rate aren’t all that important. Both platforms offer premium subscription plans that change the maximum video quality, but I don’t recommend them, at least at first. If you are passionate about the subject, I recommend them. Your own video quality, I recommend investing in a portable digital camera with 4K video, as it’s a more versatile tool than a 4K webcam. The same is true if you’re streaming from an IRL meetup location.

Another lesson that I have learned was to avoid wide-angle lenses. The most comfortable locations to mount your camera should be at least 18-24inches from your face. If you have a large lens, it may seem like you are giving a tour of your home from this distance.

Audio & microphone

Although this might cause some people to be a little upset, it is not a bad thing. I have found that the best USB microphones all suffer from the same issue: Low phantom power. You can get less power for them than you might receive from a wall socket, as they draw their own power. Most nice microphones rely on a fairly delicate balance between gain, output volume, and compression if you’re fancy. When you have to boost them too greatly in any one place, the result often doesn’t sound great. You will also need to menu dive in order to change your audio settings on the fly. What’s the solution? Here’s the solution: The one interface that all TikTok artists and Bo Burnham use.

An audio interface allows you to adjust the gain and output volume individually. You can also hear your voice through an audio interface, which allows you to listen directly. It is amazingThis is useful for controlling volume and character voices. The secondary benefits of something like this include having your headphones connected somewhere more mobile than your computer’s port, and the ability to use a secondary device to control music and sound effects, or even play instruments on the stream. I personally prefer this so I can use a tablet or phone as a dedicated soundboard, but as I said before, I’m also pretty pretentious. The microphone I use is both a microphone and an interface. It is an excellent choice, though it comes with a price.

Recommendations for Microphones

For stereo audio, the most powerful microphones available are cardioid condenser mics such as NEAT Worker Bee and MXL770. Whether you go with these or something higher-end, they’ll have you sounding as close and crisp as an NPR reporter, without that flat voice sound. This is an additional win for audio interface.

Let’s conclude

TTRPG streaming is about building a community. Or at the very least, ensuring that they like you enough to come back week after week. I have found that streams can be described as social clubs. They are formed because they bring people joy and players add entertainment.