New to Sly Flourish? Start Here or subscribe to the newsletter.

Use Physical Tools for Online Games

by Mike on 21 October 2024

There's a false dichotomy when it comes to playing RPGs. We either play online or we play in person. Sometimes it feels like it's all or nothing. If we're playing in person, it's pencils and paper and dice. If we're playing online, it's a fully featured, fully integrated virtual tabletop.

But lots of GMs mix things up. In-person GMs use big monitors, sometimes embedded in their gaming table. Players might run their character sheets off of a tablet.

The same can be true for running games online. Sure, if you're wired into a fully integrated VTT, like Roll20 or Foundry, you might not see much need for physical tools. But sometimes they're really handy.

What are some examples?

Dice. You don't need a digital dice roller. Use your real dice. Try it out. It's fun. It's fast. I have a kit of dice next to me when I run RPGs online and it's far faster for me to roll physical dice than to roll online. I'm sure that's not true for everyone but I know it's often true with players when they need to roll for something not already pre-planned on their digital character sheets.

Note cards. I use my favorite text editor, BB Edit, to jot stuff down like initiative, marching order, and abstract combat notes. It's very fast to copy and paste things around from BB Edit but it's also super-fast to use index cards. They're always in front of you. You won't accidentally close the window or need to switch screens.

Books. Many GMs seem to hate using physical books but boy, they're fun. Use little adhesive tabs you can buy at any drug, grocery, or department store to tab the pages of different monsters or other pages you need to reference during the game. Get a folding book stand so you can set it upright like monks did in the 1700s. Enjoy playing the game the way we've played for 50 years. It's ok to have to look things up. The whole game doesn't need to be a perfectly well-oiled machine.

The Flexibility of Physical Tools

Using physical tools for online games isn't just about nostalgia. There are practical reasons as well – the big one being flexibility. Physical tools just work. A blank index card and a pen offers tremendous freedom over more locked-in tools. Rolling physical dice means doing some math but you don't have to worry if you accidentally hit the "advantage" button or not. If you're given a weird modifier to a roll, you don't have to figure out how to add that into the equation. Flipping through a physical book can be faster than searching through one online or realizing you accidentally closed the window.

Using physical tools also doesn't limit you to just the online tools or sourcebooks you have in whatever online tool you're using. When you open yourself up to using books, all your books become available to you – campaign sourcebooks, monster books, adventures, and more.

Next time you're running a game online, try using physical dice. Try using a physical monster book. Try keeping an index card in front of you to jot down turn order.

Embrace analog play, even in an online game.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on NPCs from TV Shows and my Shadowdark Gloaming Finale.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Related Articles

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Subscribe to the weekly Sly Flourish newsletter and receive a free adventure generator PDF!

More from Sly Flourish

Sly Flourish's Books

Share this article by copying this link: https://slyflourish.com/physical_tools_for_online_games.html

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. It allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, for noncommercial purposes only by including the following statement in the new work:

This work includes material taken from SlyFlourish.com by Michael E. Shea available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

This site uses affiliate links to Amazon and DriveThruRPG. Thanks for your support!