Discord
Discord is a social communication platform for instant messaging, voice and video calls, and media sharing. Users can create and host public and private servers, usually focused on a common interest or social group. These servers are home to discussion channels, where members can post text, images, videos, and other media, as well as voice and video channels, where they can directly communicate with each other, talk while they play video games, or play tabletop roleplaying games remotely. Social media features let users send direct messages, share what they're playing or listening to, and add friends to their profile. As a freely available videoconferencing service, Discord is a popular choice for roleplaying game groups as either a supplementary platform for voice and video chat to their virtual tabletop of choice, or in the case of games that don't require a VTT, the platform for the entire game! Hosts have the ability to customize servers and install bots, many of which have features designed to facilitate RPG play over Discord, including dice rollers, bots that fetch character details from other websites, synchronizing music playlists, and virtual whiteboards for drawing. Discord even has integration with Roll20, where players can access the VTT directly through the video chat app. Discord users can create dedicated servers, channels, and threads for their game, allowing players to not just run the game, but also discuss, take notes, theorize, and schedule between sessions.
Discord Reviews (3)
See what other Game Masters and players are saying about Discord
Hailey Ryan
10/10.
MaxSoulGMz
Ran 79 sessions / Played 3 sessions
Discord is a famous platform, easily accessible and known to many people. I love using Discord in my games due to its extremely customizable servers, allowing me to create a near-perfect environment for asynchronous play-by-post games using a mix of channels, threads, and forums. Furthermore, its built-in Server Onboarding points directly to helpful information and helps players get used to the layout quickly so they can delve into the game smoothly. For players who dislike large servers, Discord also offers the option to hide channels players are not interested in, allowing them to focus on their games. Last but not least, the varied and multiple amounts of Discord Bots make our quality of life much better, such as Scheduled Messages, Timezone Conversion, Dice Rolling, and much more. The only complaint I have about Discord is that quality voice and video calls are locked behind a paywall, Nitro. Fortunately, my focus is on Play-by-Post. 😼
GM DANIEL
Ran 111 sessions / Played 3 sessions
Discord works as a great tool when meeting to play. The functionality of bots being added to servers can really enhance a game. As long as the GM using it is competent, you are likely to have whatever experience you desire.
How to Use Discord for D&D and TTRPGs
If you're already up on the basics of using Discord, this video will help you consider your needs and set up a Discord server in the way that best suits you to run your game or games of choice. Whether you're growing a budding community or just creating a space for you and your friends, you can direct your efforts to make the server work for you. When creating your server, you'll choose to make it public (for a club or community) or private (just for you and your friends).
Once created, you can add categories to your server to organize channels. You'll want some logistical channels, general chat and social channels, game-specific categories and channels, and anything else that makes your community unique, like channels to promote work or share pictures of pets! The video provides some excellent suggestions on channels to add to your server that will keep your games well-organized.
The video also includes some recommendations for bots that might help your server run smoothly, including DisCal and Simple Poll for scheduling, a huge number of dice rolling bots, and any specific GM or player tools you might prefer, like for playing music or referencing character sheets.
Finally, roles and permissions can help you organize the people in your server, so players in games can have private channels to discuss among themselves, opt in or out of certain channels to ensure no one gets overwhelmed by notifications that aren't relevant to them, and give folks special permissions to use tools or even help administrate the server.
How to Use Discord
If you're completely new to Discord, learn the basics here! This video will show you how to sign up for a free Discord account, explore and join discoverable public servers, and navigate text and voice channels. Discord also works as an instant messaging app outside of servers, and you can add friends and sent them direct messages as well.
If you want to create your own server, you can set it to be public or private, then invite the people you'd like to join. Generate and share invitation links, then start setting up for use by creating channels. You can also use Discord's video function to screen share and stream.
You'll also want to know how to adjust your personal settings in Discord. It's especially important to know how to set and change your audio inputs and outputs, to make sure you can hear and be heard in voice channels.
Frequently asked questions about Discord
Blog links about Discord
How to Use Discord to Play D&D (And Other TTRPGS!)
Whether you just want to join a server and play or set up Discord as your personal gaming hub, we've got the full download for players and game masters alike!
How to Build a Discord for Running Games as a Game Master
Your Discord can be more than just a chat platform—it can be a community! Learn how you can maximize your knowledge of Discord to turn your server into a gamer's paradise!