Playing Dungeons & Dragons online can be a challenge, but Roll20 is a tool that helps make the digital adventure seamless. Many of us are housebound right now and crave a little social contact, so tabletop RPGs are definitely the pastime we need.

Not only can we escape into a fantasy world and solve other people's problems for a while, but we can do so with friends; if you play D&D or similar RPGs in real life, now is your chance to play online.

The only drawback to playing Dungeons & Dragons online is that the game was definitely designed with a physical tabletop in mind. That's where Roll20 comes in. This free program provides everything you need to run D&D, or most other tabletop RPGs, from your computer. You can create maps, customize character tokens, roll digital dice, and even incorporate extras like music and personal notes.

Roll20 can be a bit daunting, especially for those new to playing RPGs online. As a player of one Roll20 game and a game master of another, I have compiled a few tips to help new players master this powerful tool.

One important caveat: Roll20 is optimized for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, but is technically a system-neutral tool; you can run anything in Roll20, and some games have entire rulesets in Roll20. More on that later, but the bottom line is that D&D is just one of many possibilities.

I would say that the first thing you need in Roll20 is a group of friends who want to play RPGs together, but that is not strictly true; Roll20 offers many options for finding players, joining groups, and finding a game master Roll20 offers many options for finding players, joining groups, and finding a game master. Whether you are a complete beginner, an experienced dungeon explorer, or a professional GM looking to earn rewards, you can find a game that suits your tastes.

Let's take a step back, though, and assume that you have never tried a tabletop RPG. As mentioned above, this is a great time to get involved, especially now when both entertainment and social interaction are sorely needed.

In brief, tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) are a kind of halfway point between board games and improvisational theater groups. You and three to five friends choose a game - "Dungeons & Dragons," for example. You create characters to inhabit this fantasy world: a clever human wizard, a brave dwarf fighter, a cunning elf ranger, and so on. One of your friends becomes the Dungeon Master or Game Master (DM or GM) and guides the other players through the story. They roll dice and solve lost encounters, such as fighting off a goblin horde or convincing a grumpy town guard; the GM can buy licensed adventures from RPG publishers or create his or her own.

If that sounds complicated, go online and watch the sessions or play them yourself. It's basically a make-believe game, but with rules and continuity.

In any case, if you don't have a group, you can use Roll20's game join feature. If there is, you can jump right in and create an account. It's a pretty standard username/password/profile setup.

Whether you are a GM or a player, you need to understand the basic operation of Roll20. Essentially, the program is a digital mapping tool that allows you to design areas on a grid and move player "tokens" around. If all you want to do is record player positions and battle distances, simply lining up colored dots on featureless gray tiles will suffice. (BTW, I am not dismissing this idea.) Or you can get artistic and embellish your maps with gorgeous custom artwork, elaborate character models, and intricate level design. Either way, the principle is the same.

While it is not possible to describe every feature of Roll20 (partly because there are so many features and partly because we have not yet explored them all), the built-in tutorial is a great place to start. The tutorial takes players step-by-step through creating a map, adding character tokens, rolling dice, programming macros, and adding music to the game. Players do not need to watch this entire tutorial, but GMs do. (Obviously, if players could see the entire map from the beginning, it would spoil many of the surprises they discover while exploring.)

Roll20 is a complex program, and even though the tutorial is long and intricate, it takes a lot of trial and error to learn it. Therefore, the Roll20 crash course and walk-through videos by the Roll20 team were also helpful. These videos include an overview of the toolkit, a brief video on map design, and a long comprehensive walkthrough of the entire Roll20 system.

Here are the basics of what you need to learn: Design a map using the Draw tool. Import assets into the art library to create level features and character tokens. Move characters around on the map. Program the roll of the dice for each character. (This does not apply, however, if you plan to roll the dice in real life (and if you trust the player to roll the dice). When a player encounters a new area, he or she should reveal the map. If all of these can be done, at least 80% of the game has been accomplished.

Additionally, Roll20 has built-in voice and video chat. I have never found video chat to be necessary or a bandwidth hog. Voice chat works well enough, but my group still prefers to use Discord instead. If you find that you don't need Roll20's voice chat, it's easy to mute it.

After spending a fair amount of time with Roll20 over the past few weeks, I have found that while Roll20 can improve tabletop RPGs, it can also be a drag on the experience. Just as you don't necessarily have to make a combat map and have players measure their movement speed every time they encounter it in a game, you don't have to play an entire session in Roll20. (It can be done, but it is tiring for both the players and the GM.)

First of all, Roll20 should be used for combat encounters. Positioning, environmental obstacles, movement speeds, and weapon ranges are all essential, and it is very difficult to keep track of all of this in one's head. (This is especially true since your idea of the battlefield may be completely different from that of another player.) If a player thinks there will be a battle in a particular area, he should design that area and place the necessary enemies. Even if they are somehow bypassed, it never hurts to be prepared.

On the other hand, Roll20 is generally not necessary for simple social encounters. If the party is wandering around town, stopping at taverns and talking to a few characters at a time, Roll20 will add nothing to the experience. If you are into mapmaking, you can design all the taverns, stores, and castles, but they serve no functional purpose. Most non-combat encounters are much easier for you and your players if you stick to the "theater of the mind". The same applies to moving from place to place; rather than having the player drag tokens across a mass of trees, it is sufficient to simply say, "I'm moving through the woods."

There are, of course, marginal cases, such as scenes involving lengthy skill checks or social gatherings where positioning is very important. (In the former case, this could be a chase in a crowded room, and in the latter, a glamorous aristocratic dinner party. These are just examples and could be anything). Generally speaking, if you might need to roll the dice to determine distances or travel, a Roll20 map, even a very simple one, can be a great help. Maps are not easy to design on the fly, so be sure to prepare them in advance.

Beyond that, much of Roll20 is trial and error, so experiment with features such as character sheets, system compendiums, mobile apps, and licensed, purchasable content. Nothing can replace getting together with friends and actually playing the game, but under the right conditions, Roll20 can come close.