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Work · April 13, 2012

RA

Roll20, a new virtual tabletop for playing RPGs online

This is a project that I have been working on in my spare time for a while now. It's a new virtual tabletop for playing pen and paper role playing games online, but it takes an entirely different approach than anything out there right now. Rather than trying to turn pen and paper games into video games, with features centered around one-click damage calculations and detailed stats tracking, Roll20 focuses on storytelling. It has completely new features like background music, player journals, and an expansive art library with a built-in web search. The entire system runs on NodeJS, Padrino,…

Roll20, a new virtual tabletop for playing RPGs online launched on April 13, 2012 with 36 votes, #51 of 446 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches. The site was not reachable when checked in September 2026.

Visit kickstarter.com ↗Alternativestop 11% of April 2012

In plain words

Roll20 is a virtual tabletop platform designed for playing pen and paper role-playing games online with an emphasis on storytelling rather than game mechanics. It features background music, player journals, and an expansive art library with integrated web search capabilities. The platform is built on modern web technologies including NodeJS and includes built-in video chat functionality. Roll20 is intended for RPG players and game masters seeking a collaborative online gaming experience that prioritizes narrative over automated calculations.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

This is a project that I have been working on in my spare time for a while now. It's a new virtual tabletop for playing pen and paper role playing games online, but it takes an entirely different approach than anything out there right now. Rather than trying to turn pen and paper games into video games, with features…

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