Blind and Visually Impaired Community
↑
5
↓
[ADVICE] Does anyone play table top / pen & paper RPG games? (self.Blind)
submitted by BARDLover
I've been interested in games such as Dungeons & Dragons for a long time now, and I'm wondering if there are any visually impaired or blind people that play?
I have 2 primary concerns / things that I would need help adapting and accommodating.
The first major thing will be the chore aspect of the game, dice rolling. Does anyone have a good method for being able to roll your own dice, without assistance? I am a braille user, so braille dice would be fine, but I can't find anything aside from a 6 sided die. All I can find for a braille D20 is a 3D printer model for one, for home printing, not for sale. Which is extremely cool, but I don't have a 3D printer yet.
My second major point is character sheets. I believe a sighted persons sheets are just all the stats, items, spells, characteristics, etc, but the player also has to take copious amounts of notes on the sheet, regarding changing inventory, hit points, conditions, etc. Aside from making an excel spread sheet, and bringing a computer with me to play, does anyone have a suggestion of how to do this?
Thanks for any tips / tricks / advice.
I have 2 primary concerns / things that I would need help adapting and accommodating.
The first major thing will be the chore aspect of the game, dice rolling. Does anyone have a good method for being able to roll your own dice, without assistance? I am a braille user, so braille dice would be fine, but I can't find anything aside from a 6 sided die. All I can find for a braille D20 is a 3D printer model for one, for home printing, not for sale. Which is extremely cool, but I don't have a 3D printer yet.
My second major point is character sheets. I believe a sighted persons sheets are just all the stats, items, spells, characteristics, etc, but the player also has to take copious amounts of notes on the sheet, regarding changing inventory, hit points, conditions, etc. Aside from making an excel spread sheet, and bringing a computer with me to play, does anyone have a suggestion of how to do this?
Thanks for any tips / tricks / advice.
Stringrin 3 points 6y ago
If you're interested in having braille dice, $1 is a company that specializes in making accessible kits for board games. They're finishing up fulfilling a kickstarter for rpg dice, so the dice aren't available on the store yet, but I expect they might be selling them by the end of the year. As part of the kickstarter, they were also making tactile grids, for maps I suppose. I've never played D&D, so I'm speculating based off videos I've watched. Anyway, maybe they'll be selling those too.
Here's a link to the $1. If you scroll through the updates, look for the ones that start with "from a blind tabletop player". They might have some useful information in there about how they handled player sheets.
Edit: Added link to kickstarter
Here's a link to the $1. If you scroll through the updates, look for the ones that start with "from a blind tabletop player". They might have some useful information in there about how they handled player sheets.
Edit: Added link to kickstarter
BARDLover [OP] 1 points 6y ago
Thank you very much, I'll go over the info as soon as I can.
xoites 3 points 6y ago
I am not blind, but I saw your post and did a quick search and came up with this:
Dungeons And Dragons: a How-To For Blind And Low Vision Tabletop Enthusiasts
https://www.coolblindtech.com/dungeons-dragons-blind-low-vision-tabletop-enthusiasts/
Dungeons And Dragons: a How-To For Blind And Low Vision Tabletop Enthusiasts
https://www.coolblindtech.com/dungeons-dragons-blind-low-vision-tabletop-enthusiasts/
BARDLover [OP] 1 points 6y ago
Ironically enough, that link didn't want to work on my phone.
Googled the link though, and found the article.
Thanks, looks like a computer is really the only way to go for sheets, and I didn't know Siri could roll dice.
Googled the link though, and found the article.
Thanks, looks like a computer is really the only way to go for sheets, and I didn't know Siri could roll dice.
BlindGuyNW 1 points 6y ago
A computer or Braille notetaker should work fine for character sheets. I actually do my gaming virtually nowadays, where everyone uses computers in some fashion. Google Hangouts or Skype are great for this sort of thing.
As for the dice rolling, there are speciality Braille dice that are 3D-printed, though the quality varies a bit, and I don't know if they're for sale to the general public yet. Your best bet is probably an electronic roller of some sort, there are iOS apps or programs for the computer, or even online rollers such as http://www.jsdice.com.
I hope this helps a bit.
As for the dice rolling, there are speciality Braille dice that are 3D-printed, though the quality varies a bit, and I don't know if they're for sale to the general public yet. Your best bet is probably an electronic roller of some sort, there are iOS apps or programs for the computer, or even online rollers such as http://www.jsdice.com.
I hope this helps a bit.
BARDLover [OP] 1 points 6y ago
It does.
Question about Skype gaming, do you do voice gaming or chat gaming?
I've been playing around on /r/YouEnterADungeon on an alt account lately, and I was invited to join a group for a game, but the thought of keeping track of all those different threads, non visually, sounds like a huge pain.
Question about Skype gaming, do you do voice gaming or chat gaming?
I've been playing around on /r/YouEnterADungeon on an alt account lately, and I was invited to join a group for a game, but the thought of keeping track of all those different threads, non visually, sounds like a huge pain.
BlindGuyNW 1 points 6y ago
I do voice gaming, definitely. It's the closest I can come to doing it in person at the moment. Thanks for the link though, I wasn't aware of that.
SWaspMale 1 points 6y ago
There are websites for companies which do 3-D printing. If you can't get a college, university, etc. to do some dice for you free; you might contact one of those companies and describe what you want. I do not know what to expect regarding prices.
BARDLover [OP] 2 points 6y ago
Thanks for the suggestion, I didn't even think of a college.
SWaspMale 1 points 6y ago
Volume of notes depends on the player. I don't recall anyone making lots of them, but a group might have a 'mapper' who tries to make a map of the adventure area.
Short of a computer, I suppose a braille typewriter would help, or a helper to write / read and manage the character sheet. Even in-game, an illiterate (or blind) character might have a 'scribe' or secretary.
Short of a computer, I suppose a braille typewriter would help, or a helper to write / read and manage the character sheet. Even in-game, an illiterate (or blind) character might have a 'scribe' or secretary.
BARDLover [OP] 2 points 6y ago
I would like to avoid having a helper, although in game I think that would be amazing. I have a braille writer, but it's a tad bit too loud, it's really old. So I'll stick to a computer.
Thanks for the ideas.
Thanks for the ideas.
SWaspMale 1 points 6y ago
I have played DnD several times in the past, but my vision has deteriorated since then.
BARDLover [OP] 1 points 6y ago
Was it fun? How much sight did you have? What did you do to make it playable?
SWaspMale 1 points 6y ago
For my last game, I was only a little myopic / nearsighted and colorblind. Still fun, but I think lots depends on the group, DM, and venue. I did not require much accomodation.
SWaspMale 1 points 6y ago
If you have a smartphone / tablet / laptop, you might be able to find an app / program which rolls a dice (virtually) and tells you (verbally) the result.
On the other hand, in a group, you could roll conventional dice and two or more others in the group might agree on what your result is.
On the other hand, in a group, you could roll conventional dice and two or more others in the group might agree on what your result is.
BARDLover [OP] 2 points 6y ago
I didn't think of using an app. I think I'll go with that approach, as I don't like relying on others if I have too.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Thanks for the suggestion.
SWaspMale 1 points 6y ago
Colleges and Universities typically have at least one 3-D printer, and there might be one happy to print some dice as a project / exercise.
BARDLover [OP] 2 points 6y ago
Thanks, I didn't think of that.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.