Roll20’s beta app will allow you to play Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs within Discord calls

If running a voice call and opening a browser window at the same time sounds like too much work to play your weekly RPG game, you’re in luck - Roll20 has announced the launch of a beta app that will run its popular virtual tabletop within Discord’s dedicated platform.

Roll20 will be listed among the Activities section of Discord, joining the likes of Watch Together, Catan clone Colonist and a host of lightweight multiplayer games as software users can launch while on a voice or video call. The Roll20 app will be fully featured compared to the browser-based original, just integrated into Discord’s infrastructure. That means loading a digital map and tossing some tokens onto the board is only a couple clicks added to what it takes to join a voice channel, and the companies are promising that the process should all be fairly seamless upon launch.

Discord-supported games should mirror Roll20’s full library, including Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder and Starfinder, Fallout, Cyberpunk RED and Dune: Adventures in the Imperium. Users who own books and features on Roll20 will have access to those resources and can share amongst players, alongside character management, 3-dimensional dice rolling and all other quality-of-life enhancements. The only downside will be convincing your players whether to join Roll20’s integrated voice channels or jump into the Discord call.

Campaigns won’t be locked to one platform, and ongoing adventures will be able to jump back and forth between Roll20 and Discord without losing any progress or having to manually shift over files and preferences. If you pay for Roll20 Pro or Plus, Discord’s app will allow access to advanced features - a press release mentioned dynamic lighting and compendium sharing only.

Pro users will be invited to an exclusive beta test on April 30th, which will take place within a private Discord server - likely for ease of feedback and finding a full party. If you’re antsy to stress test features, Roll20 has lopped 30% off the price of Pro subscriptions if it’s your first time. The VTT marked 10 million users back in 2022 - at the height of the pandemic tabletop boom - which might seem like small potatoes compared to Discord’s 563 million registered users but still marks it as the most popular virtual choice in the hobby.

"We are thrilled to introduce Roll20 to a new audience through our collaboration with Discord," said Riley Dutton, Roll20’s founder in residence, in the press release. "We also know how many existing Roll20 users love Discord, and we’re excited to offer them an easier way to play!”