One phone at the D&D table: playing a bard in person
A phone at the D&D table can carry a bard's whole turn: BardRoll's d20 stands in for the table's die, shows the raw face and the total separately so anyone can check them, and plays the performance aloud. The screen stays awake while you play, where the browser supports it, and each bard needs only their own phone.
Marisol
Bard 7 · save 15 · song +7
Inspiration
Slots
Can a phone stand in for the d20 at the table?
Yes. BardRoll's die is a fair d20, and it rolls straight, with advantage or with disadvantage, to match what the DM calls. Karmic dice stays off unless the player turns it on, and when it does nudge a roll the sheet says so. The raw face shows large and the total sits beneath it as plain arithmetic, with both dice shown on advantage or disadvantage, so the table can check every roll.
Will the screen stay on during a session?
Yes, where the browser supports it. Keeping the screen awake is on by default and can be turned off in the app's settings, and it holds on every tab, not only the one you are looking at. The browser lets go of it when the phone is locked or the app goes to the background, and BardRoll asks again when you come back.
How can the DM check a roll made on a phone?
By reading it. The raw face is the large number, the modifier and the total are the small line beneath it, and the band's name is written out. Nothing about the roll is hidden, and the app never learns the DC, so the call on success is the DM's, exactly as with a physical die.
Does everyone at the table need the app?
No. BardRoll is for the bard, and each bard needs only their own phone. The rest of the table plays as usual: they hear the performance from the bard's phone and hear the total read out like any other roll. For a room with no signal, the Offline D&D app guide covers it.
Questions
- Can several bards at one table use BardRoll?
- Yes. Each bard plays on their own phone, with their own characters, slots and rolls, and nothing is shared between phones. Bards rolling at once will each hear their own performance, in their own instrument, so it helps to take turns the way the table already does.
- Is the sound loud enough for a table?
- It plays through the phone's speaker at the phone's own volume, and a performance lasts a few seconds, so the people nearest the bard hear it best. On an iPhone with the ringer switch set to silent, browser audio is muted, so flip the switch before the session if nothing plays.