The Accidental Professionalism of Livestream D&D

  So we have a Livestream on Twitch.  Didn't know if you knew that.  Not many do, but those that do have been entertained quite well for the 14 episodes we've been running.  You can find us HERE on Twitch, and 2 weeks behind up on YouTube, and, if you're a patron of our podcast (of any tier), you have access to the whole show in podcast form (soon with theme music and behind-the-scenes chatter pre- and post-show).

  The Livestream itself is classic D&D adventure time for 90-minutes set in my custom world of Io-Empyr (the fifth age of my interwoven timeline), and features steampunk airship combat, sky pirates, floating cities, and dangerous foes from the Shadowfell and the Feywild as they vie for control of the skies.  The show is called Cloudsinger, and features a rag-tag 4-person party of awesome adventurers attempting to trust one another as they navigate this high-flying world, all while dodging their various pasts, new enemies, and alarming secrets.
  It's freaking awesome.

The experience itself marks the 6th campaign that I run weekly, and there's something very unique about running an adventure online in front of a digital audience; for the DM and for the players.  My partner in podcast crime, John (Solomon Blackedge in the campaign), put it best: we're "accidentally professional."  Everybody brings something unique to the table, and we run the gamut from REALLY experienced tabletop players to players just working through the main mechanics; we're patient with each other, celebratory of our successes, flabbergasted by our secrets, and no one metas too hard.  We know others are watching, so we try to bring our best selves every time...and it's always an absolute BLAST.

  I am always appreciative of this particular screen grab: Adam in disbelief, Jenn laughing but disgusted, John owning his live role-playing, and Lisa's just watching it all with a mask of utter apathy.  Professional D&D players, everybody.  ;)

  Now, none of us are brand-spanking new, and we all follow a distinct mission here at Questers' Way Game On: to become our best selves through gaming.  So, I thought it fun to take a look at the standard of play that I hold my Game Mastering to, and how it changes and levels up when you bring it to the Livestreaming Stage.  ...Because it certainly changes things.

Clear, Consistent, Mechanical Rulings

  The internet can be an unforgiving place.  I've had my fair share of trolls on the internet, but D&D fans can be a little...possessive of the thing that they love so much.  Critical Role isn't perfect on rulings, and they even bring it up as a defense: they're far from paragon players, and part of the fun is making mistakes.  
  For me especially, with custom rulesets for airship combat, special weapons, home-brewed monsters, whatever thing I bring up - I'm keen to explain my reasoning for its existence, and then play it through.  In that case, if I reflect and find something does not work the way I wanted it to, I have to let my players know AND my audience online know if I change it and why.  Now, upon writing this practice down, my brain screams: "Well, DUH" and this is because ANY campaign benefits from this practice, online or off, but online it is an absolute necessity.  Rule and mechanic transparency is essential to keep the audience in the loop; in a way, they're playing too.  :)

Always Moving, Even When Standing Still

  Pacing can sometimes be tricky, regardless of the campaign.  No person can be on-point all the time, and no party will be pushing for plot every session...and that's a great thing.  Action can happen without "action."  Character development is just as powerful and entertaining (sometimes moreso) than any fight.  Sometimes the audience needs rest, too, and these key moments of "still movement" keep the characters growing and the audience involved.  As a DM, don't be afraid of them.  This is a group story, and few stories are one fight all the way through (and still entertaining).

Audio Setup Needs To Be Simple and Clean

  We started the Livestream utilizing an online tabletop music resource called tabletopaudio.com.  This is a copyright-free audio site where each audio segment lasts ten minutes and can be pieced together into a pretty solid playlist.  ...However, with enough technical elements through the iPad (my main interface to save space in our setup), we had to abandon it.  Still a great resource that you can find HERE.
  Moving forward, we're hitting this on three fronts.  
  1) I've returned to Syrinscape.  This an app available on mac or pc systems that is chock full of sound sets, music, and sound effects to help with your overall atmosphere and immersion.  I did a review awhile back about how I found their music to be less than satisfactory, and opted out.  I have since grown up a bit and I love that it's all copyright free.  That's the big deal here.  Plus, the interface doesn't take much to get used to, so I'm pretty pleased overall.
  2) I'm writing music for this campaign.  No joke.  I write music, I've published two albums, had works premiered with live orchestras - I got this.  It's a bit of work, but it's going to add something truly special to Cloudsinger that sets it apart from the rest of our weekly campaigns.  If you care to take a look at my old stuff.
  3) Cross-chatter needs to be at an absolute minimum.  This is a theater thing: if everyone is mic'ed, then everyone can hear EVERYTHING you are saying, even if it's a funny joke you just thought of.  Sharing is okay, but the timing needs to be clear.  We're not going to talk over each other because A) that's rude, and B) it overloads the recording with essentially white noise.  The dudes on Critical Role are respectful because they're good people, but also because it serves the recording tech tremendously.

Go With What Is Most Comfortable For You

  No one wants a stilted performance.  Not from the DM, not from the players.  It's our game, first and foremost, so we're going to play the way we want to play.  The audience will comment, but I don't really watch the chat during the stream, and that is so I can give my whole self over to the players I'm playing with.  By keeping myself centered on them, and not on external hardware, I can be my best self. 
  In addition, peripherals are great tools.  DnD Beyond comes up quite a bit and we decided to give it a go as a group to help ourselves get organized.  Unfortunately, technical difficulties, connection issues, and the product of staring at a screen all the time just to check your abilities has started to pull people out of the action, or at least made it a little inconsistent.  So, back to pencil and paper, dude.  DnD Beyond is a great resource, and I still use it often to build out and test characters, but for OUR live show, we operate better without more tech at the table to look things up.  It makes everything smoother, focused, and more intimate.  ;)

Know Your Character, Know Your Stuff, and Get Organized

  This one is a standard I always hold myself to.  I am a professional, of course.  ;)  But this stretches beyond the DM.  

When you're in front of others, like a performance, a certain level of preparation goes a long way in helping the audience become immersed, the players staying engaged, and story flowing well.  Players that do their homework on their abilities, clarify understanding before and after the game, and think critically about the feelings, motivations, and personal stories of their characters will sync up to the world with alarming speed and precision.  The less you have to guess about how your character would act, the better you can ACT, and therefore play.
  The times that I have prepared my character - just got myself more organized, put myself into their headspace prior to the session - the more fun I would have, and I'd avoid those little hiccups of second-guessing.  Subtle moments of pause when I didn't know what to do...disappeared.  And I'm not the only one to put in some extra prep.
  John, for example, runs a "test Solomon" in another campaign to help flesh out how THIS Solomon acts.  This way, Cloudsinger Solomon is the strongest iteration of the character, and John clearly has a ton of fun playing him.  Jenn and I have meetings every so often to chat about her backstory and where her character's motivations lie.  Lisa is very up front about how Spifi acts, and Spark...well, remains a mystery, but in a good way (Adam B.'s on point as a cat-person).
  We're eager to play, but we have an external responsibility to do so in the first place, so that little extra pressure is enough to warrant bringing our A-game every time.  And that little bit of extra responsibility brings nautical tons of fun to the table.

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Final Thoughts

  Any campaign can benefit from these elements - I wouldn't save them for online-only experiences.  I've been using music sets, sound sets, and mixes for a LONG time in my regular games, and I'm often recording the sessions for my own internal consistency.  I do my homework every time, but any good DM should.  Great players prep themselves before a session to ensure smooth play and fast fun.  It's a great way to upgrade your gaming experience.
  However, these elements I find to be absolutely necessary if you're running something online.  The addition of an external, broad audience adds another layer to your game, and it puts some onus on you and your players to literally be entertaining...but don't add pressure that sacrifices fun.  With so many people on the planet, if you're having fun, there are bound to be more peeps out there that like your play style.  So, keep things moving, sure, but PLAY YOUR GAME.  It's your time to have your fun - we're just along for the ride.  :)

See you at the table.
-Adamus