Using Trello as a virtual tabletop for RPGs

Inspired by this blog  I thought I’d try using Trello as a virtual tabletop. 

I’ve played a few games on Roll20, but I find that while it suits combat-oriented systems (like D&D) well, it’s not so good for something more abstract like Fate. Perhaps my three biggest criticisms of Roll20 are:

• The players can’t collaborate as much as I would like to.
• I can’t easily go back and see previous scenes and maps—only the GM can move me.
• I can’t easily see other players character sheets—at least not without having a zillion pop-ups.

So I thought I’d give Trello a spin.

What the heck is Trello?

Trello is a “a web-based Kanban-style list-making application”. It’s a productivity app, used to organise work. Essentially you create lists (categories) into which you put cards (your tasks).

You can click on the cards to see more detail (such as more text, checklists and so on).

And you can use it for RPGs.

The player's Trello board for Achtung! Cthulhu

Setting up Trello

I’ve just used Trello for my Fate Accelerated game of Achtung! Cthulhu. (I've discussed Achtung! Cthulhu before.) Here’s how I used it: 

• First, I created a GM board. This had everything on it that I needed – the background, locations, foes, NPCs and any pregens. (I normally run one-shots, and I’ve usually prepared pregens.)
• For my Achtung! Cthulhu game, I created these lists: Game admin; Current scene/clues; A list for each PC; NPCs; Locations; Clues; Foes
• I populated each list with individual cards. So the locations list had the various locations that I think will be needed, along with a photograph and a short description. NPCs included a photograph and their stats.
• For Fate Accelerated characters, I broke down the various parts of the character sheet into different cards – each aspect was its own card, approaches are a card, stunts are on another card, fate points are on another. That way all the character info can be seen by everyone.

But that board was just for me.

I then created a duplicate of that board for the players. I deleted the cards I didn’t want them to see (yet), leaving them with the opening situation and the characters. (And blank lists for locations, clues and foes.)

A Trello card - a Liminal foe

How did it work in practice?

I made the player board public, so the players could all see it without needing a Trello account. Unfortunately, without an account the players couldn’t edit the cards and make their own changes. It wasn’t a problem for a one-shot, but for an ongoing campaign I would encourage my players to create a free Trello account.

During play, as the players met a new NPC, or encountered a foe, I copied cards from my GM board (which I had open as a separate tab) over to the player board. That worked fine, and all the players had all the information in front of them.

I would have liked to see them create their own cards to make notes with, but as they didn’t have accounts that didn’t happen. Maybe another time.

But what about maps?

One thing that I don’t like about Roll20 that I didn’t mention above, is its assumption that you will use a map.

Now, when I run a tabletop game, I use maps sparingly. I don’t use miniatures and so Roll20 is overkill. In fact, Roll20 encourages the kind of games I don’t enjoy playing (ie, a miniatures boardgame).

An aside: I’ve noticed that I’ve used Roll20 so much lately—usually as a player, once as a GM—that I’ve started to become brainwashed into thinking that when I run an RPG online I must have maps. And that’s not true. Before I used Roll20 so much, I was perfectly happy running a game using nothing more than a Googledoc.

So in my Achtung! Cthulhu game, I set up a Google Jamboard (their virtual whiteboard) that we could use for a map. We used it a bit, but I found it awkward swapping between Trello and the Jamboard. Next time I’ll see if I can run the game without a map. I’ll keep the Jamboard as a backup if I need it, but I’ll try not to use it. 

Downsides

As with any VTT, you can spend longer prettifying Trello (and Roll20) than you will actually spend playing the game. We spent about four hours playing through my Achtung! Cthulhu mission, and I’m sure I spent at least as long as that populating the boards ready for play.

(And that doesn’t count the time spent writing the mission in the first place—although this was its second time through, so I don’t count that.)

I justify this by telling myself that I’ll run the game again. And I will—it’s the game I’m running for Furnace this year. But I also enjoyed prettifying Trello and adding bling, which is odd because I don’t do that when I’m running at the table. 

My next Trello game

I’m not 100% sold on Trello yet. I like it a lot, but I suspect I won’t get full value out of it until the players can also contribute. But I’ve only tried it the once, and I’m going to use it for my next game: Liminal.

Liminal on Trello

Update: Three months later and I’m using Trello for my Liminal campaign. I’ve got the hang of it now – we use Discord for chat (with the Dice Maiden bot for dice rolling), and most of the action happens around the Trello board.

Some further thoughts:

• Unlike my Achtung! Cthulhu board, for the Liminal characters are single cards on a “PCs” List. That reduces the amount of space they take up, which is better for the locations, NPCs and so on.
• Enabling players to update the cards is great – I’ve found that they’ve found pictures for NPCs and added other great embellishments.
• My GM board has evolved a bit. I originally imagined that I’d have all the NPCs, locations, etc on it, and then copy them to the player board. But I’ve found it’s better to move (rather than copy) the cards as that reduces the clutter.
• I’ve found using checklists in a card really useful for countdown clocks, or to remind me of the various encounters and incidents I have planned for a session. You can have multiple checklists in a single card, which is really handy.

While I’m finding Trello great for a campaign, it might be more than I need for a one-shot or single scenario. I’m still exploring though.