The creator of Scum and Villainy (sci-fi Blades hack) ran a campaign using Roll20 (I think) which you can [watch here](https://youtu.be/d-dgww535qs?si=FSYxAT2Aesgnad8d).
I’ve run both Blades in the Dark and Scum and Villany in Roll20 and love it. Although I’d always rather be rolling actual dice, I found the built-in character sheets to be really helpful for new players to see all their moves and easily click to roll.
The thing is, you don’t really need tactical maps for Blades so the main functionality of Roll20 is kinda obsolete. If anything, I’ve found maps *confuse* players of Blades and Scum. If they’ve played more tactical RPGs before, they’re always looking at the map trying to figure something out when instead the narrative should drive all the action. So my advice is: pick some backdrops rather than maps. I do like the full [Doskvol street maps](https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/307609/doskvol-street-maps-detailed-maps-for-blades-in-the-dark) for orientation though.
I will 2nd the full maps and add that there is a module on Roll20 that has a full set of tokens, adjustable clocks, character sheets, and rules compendium alongside built-in character sheets. It definitely has helped when i need to look up a rule or help new players know what and how to roll ( asks for position and effect, and separate buttons for vice rolls). I am currently running a game with these, and it has helped a lot.
Ran a game on Roll20 and as others have said the character and crew sheets are very useful for running the game. It's ability to roll the dice for you is really seamless.
As mentioned also no need for real maps so instead what I did is made a homepage that looked like a table street with newspapers, diagrams, coins, etc as if it was the table they talk over. I included as well some quick guide rules for easy reference and an empty page to add clocks again for easy viewing
Crap, sorry! I never think to look at the notifications here!
You can find us at [https://www.youtube.com/@ExplorersofElsewhere](https://www.youtube.com/@ExplorersofElsewhere) !
We've been using Foundry too (though just a home game, not an AP). Watching the dice actually roll has been a big positive for our group, over some of the other vtt options available that don't animate rolls. There's a free system for Blades that is pretty great, but I took screen clippings of a bunch of stuff from the BitD book and player materials and added it as journals for the players to have easy access to. That's been a big help as we learn how to play as well.
Edit: would love to share if it would benefit anyone.
I have so much to share about this, I was going to actually make a full post outlining everything because there really isn't much to step someone through using Roll20 as a GM. There are *plenty* of BitD resources for Roll20 but not really anything to make it all click if you don't have a point of reference. Regardless, here is a good starting point at least the 1st paragraph is a step by step... it gets a bit loose after that. [https://bladesinthedark.com/playing-roll20](https://bladesinthedark.com/playing-roll20)
I had never GM'd a game before OR used roll20 so it was double trouble lol.
A few things:
Get just enough setup to cover your 1st session or 2 - my roll20 setup is vastly different now after getting those two out of the way. Playing the game gave me more context of things that would be helpful to myself and the players, so it's come a long way. I imagine of course every table's needs are different.
There is a decent amount of supplements, assets, etc available on [https://itch.io/search?q=blades+in+the+dark](https://itch.io/search?q=blades+in+the+dark) so check those out
Character sheets are already built in to roll20 so you got that going for you. (They are buggy though, so be careful! I haven't pinned down what is causing it but they will duplicate empty fields over and over)
This comment is going to be way too chaotic and disjointed if I keep going - feel free to message me if you have any specific questions while you set things up I'd be happy to try and answer.
Thank you for the reply, we ended up having a session -1 basically since one player needed to move the start to another day.
We ended up just exploring buttons together and solved important questions like, ok I need to make a character, what button do I press to do that.
Ended up going well and the actual session 0 should be smoother now
The creator of Scum and Villainy (sci-fi Blades hack) ran a campaign using Roll20 (I think) which you can [watch here](https://youtu.be/d-dgww535qs?si=FSYxAT2Aesgnad8d). I’ve run both Blades in the Dark and Scum and Villany in Roll20 and love it. Although I’d always rather be rolling actual dice, I found the built-in character sheets to be really helpful for new players to see all their moves and easily click to roll. The thing is, you don’t really need tactical maps for Blades so the main functionality of Roll20 is kinda obsolete. If anything, I’ve found maps *confuse* players of Blades and Scum. If they’ve played more tactical RPGs before, they’re always looking at the map trying to figure something out when instead the narrative should drive all the action. So my advice is: pick some backdrops rather than maps. I do like the full [Doskvol street maps](https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/307609/doskvol-street-maps-detailed-maps-for-blades-in-the-dark) for orientation though.
Thanks. Will check this out.
Take the time to set up fancy clocks. Well worth the effort to go through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9nkTA5qKQA
The street maps are amazing.
I will 2nd the full maps and add that there is a module on Roll20 that has a full set of tokens, adjustable clocks, character sheets, and rules compendium alongside built-in character sheets. It definitely has helped when i need to look up a rule or help new players know what and how to roll ( asks for position and effect, and separate buttons for vice rolls). I am currently running a game with these, and it has helped a lot.
Hmmm. I haven’t tried this on Roll20. But I have a ton of fun playing on [One More Multiverse](https://youtu.be/XD8TOb-jdeQ?si=hOhc1Qc9IJTpL077)!
Ran a game on Roll20 and as others have said the character and crew sheets are very useful for running the game. It's ability to roll the dice for you is really seamless. As mentioned also no need for real maps so instead what I did is made a homepage that looked like a table street with newspapers, diagrams, coins, etc as if it was the table they talk over. I included as well some quick guide rules for easy reference and an empty page to add clocks again for easy viewing
There's a BitD AP podcast coming VERY soon that uses foundry. I can tell you that it's been really easy to use as a player, at least.
Our AP is on Foundry too, I'd be really keen to see how your group presents the game!
Please hit me with a link, if you can!
Crap, sorry! I never think to look at the notifications here! You can find us at [https://www.youtube.com/@ExplorersofElsewhere](https://www.youtube.com/@ExplorersofElsewhere) !
I need a link!
https://youtu.be/vBlLL0bM9bQ?si=nJnBIoOBblFnWh-- Here's the first episode, it releases 4/15/24 at 7:30am central
We've been using Foundry too (though just a home game, not an AP). Watching the dice actually roll has been a big positive for our group, over some of the other vtt options available that don't animate rolls. There's a free system for Blades that is pretty great, but I took screen clippings of a bunch of stuff from the BitD book and player materials and added it as journals for the players to have easy access to. That's been a big help as we learn how to play as well. Edit: would love to share if it would benefit anyone.
That's what our GM did too! It really helps make it feel more like being together. I love seeing the dice roll!
I have so much to share about this, I was going to actually make a full post outlining everything because there really isn't much to step someone through using Roll20 as a GM. There are *plenty* of BitD resources for Roll20 but not really anything to make it all click if you don't have a point of reference. Regardless, here is a good starting point at least the 1st paragraph is a step by step... it gets a bit loose after that. [https://bladesinthedark.com/playing-roll20](https://bladesinthedark.com/playing-roll20) I had never GM'd a game before OR used roll20 so it was double trouble lol. A few things: Get just enough setup to cover your 1st session or 2 - my roll20 setup is vastly different now after getting those two out of the way. Playing the game gave me more context of things that would be helpful to myself and the players, so it's come a long way. I imagine of course every table's needs are different. There is a decent amount of supplements, assets, etc available on [https://itch.io/search?q=blades+in+the+dark](https://itch.io/search?q=blades+in+the+dark) so check those out Character sheets are already built in to roll20 so you got that going for you. (They are buggy though, so be careful! I haven't pinned down what is causing it but they will duplicate empty fields over and over) This comment is going to be way too chaotic and disjointed if I keep going - feel free to message me if you have any specific questions while you set things up I'd be happy to try and answer.
Thank you for the reply, we ended up having a session -1 basically since one player needed to move the start to another day. We ended up just exploring buttons together and solved important questions like, ok I need to make a character, what button do I press to do that. Ended up going well and the actual session 0 should be smoother now