Technology has evolved from strictly business applications, to hobbyist build projects, to leisure time entertainment systems. Along this journey they also crept onto the tabletop.

Not just your kitchen table, but also your tabletop roleplaying game (RPG).

Early on when I started playing tabletop RPGs there weren’t a lot of options for you. You could buy mintures, paint them, and set them on a tabletop but the required cost and time presented challenges.

Years later dry erase markers and vinyl maps took over. We were able to sketch maps, move miniatures, all at a relatively low price.

As computers got smaller and more powerful I tried to incorporate them into my tabletop RPGs but it was challenging. With the introduction of virtual tabletops (VTT) RPGs could be played remotely or locally. The computer handled the map and miniatures.

If you’ve listened to podcasts or read my other articles here on EvolvingRPG you know I run games regularly on Roll20. One group is local except for one player. I utilize the VTT to load maps and track player progress. Problem was I had to display the game on a TV using a HDMI cable.

With the setup of the room I needed a small device to display the game. Enter the Raspberry Pi 3 B (RP3). With little space available and concerned with having my iPad Air 2 standing out in the open the RP3 was small and with the low cost, the entire kit cost me $59 on Amazon, it was the perfect solution.

But would it work? The RP3 comes with a quad core 1.2ghz CPU, 1GB of RAM, along with a built in graphic processor. All of this and it fits in the palm of your hand. The concern I had was if it would be able to handle Roll20’s processor and graphic demands and be useable in the game.

This particular group had 7 players. Generally I controlled all of the encounters but had to use my Macbook Pro to display the tabletop. I had real concerns about my iPad being knocked over accidentally and felt my Macbook was sturdier and more stable.

I checked online and found a few posts asking for advice and if the RP3 could do it. Unfortunately there was little support other than “I don’t know, try it” or “It’s not recommended or supported.”

I decided to go ahead and ordered the Canakit on Amazon. For $59 I got the RP3, a microSD loaded with NOOBS, a power supply, case, heat sinks, HDMI cable, and microSD card reader. Everything you need to be ready to go right out of the box.

I inserted the RP3 into the case, plugged it in and hooked up the HDMI to my TV. There are a few steps to go through but I will skip by those because this isn’t a review of the RP3 itself but of it’s ability to run a Roll20 virtual tabletop.

Using the Chromium browser I was able to pull up Roll20.net and login. Launching a game I was running I had no problems other than slow load times. You’ll need to be a little patient but it will get the job done.

Next I joined the Curse of Strahd campaign I was running. This was the actual licensed campaign Roll20 offers. Here I ran into problems. The launch page graphic was fairly high resolution and would crash. I changed the log in page to the map of Yester Hill and again it wouldn’t load. Switching to a lower resolution map I purchased the RP3 was able to display that map.

I wasn’t intending to use the RP3 for my Curse of Strahd gaming group because that game is done 100% remotely. My group of 6 players are spread from coast to coast (literally one is in Maryland and another is in Oregon, technology is a grand thing). I figured I ran into the limits of what the RP3 could do but I wasn’t deterred.

My local game group night came up and I used the RP3 as a “player” view. Using Roll20 I was logged in as DM on my Macbook and as a player on the RP3. I was able to ping locations and the RP3 was very responsive. All in all that night was a success.

Next time around I was going to log in as a player in a friends Marvel Superheroes game he was running on Roll20. It’s the same group that I meet with weekly but we rotate who runs to give everyone a chance to play.

My friend had created his own map and uploaded it to Roll20 and set up Dynamic Lighting. I fired up the RP3 and immediately ran into problems. The first being the dynamic lighting was not working and the whole map was visible.

The RP3 was seriously lagging too. It was practically unresponsive. Instead of NOOBS I loaded the current version of Raspian to run the RP3. This included a processor load indicator. It was pegged at 95% to 100% and quickly I received a temperature alert. There are two heat warnings the RP3 responds to. The first level it begins to throttle down the processor to cool itself. The next level the processor and GPU throttle down.

I didn’t have time to troubleshoot the problem so I used my iPad to share my display. My iPad Air 2 has no problem with Roll20 other than the loss of a few features because you can’t “click” the touch display.

The following week I tried to figure out the problem. It might have been the map size. The map my friend was using was 56×32 grids. I normally run 25×25 grid maps. Plus I wasn’t sure what the resolution of the map in question was.

I tried a few other maps I was working with that I had enabled dynamic lighting and ran into the same problem. Dynamic Lighting is a “layer” on a Roll20 map. Chromium on the RP3 seemed to not recognize that layer.

The heat issue persisted which I was sure wasn’t helping things. I an effort to cool my RP3 I installed passive heat sinks on the processor and GPU. To cool it even further I decided to invest in a case for the board that included a fan.

The iUniker Raspberry Pi 3 B case with fan cost me about $8 on Amazon. Once I received it I installed the RP3 and tried it again.

I immediately saw an improvement. Keep in mind that the Dynamic Lighting still did not work but the previously unusable map was now loading. It took a little bit but once it loaded the RP3 was responsive moving tokens around.

I kept an eye on the processor load and it was running in the 90% and up range but I didn’t receive a heat warning. Next I did something I should not have done, I touched the heat sink with my finger. It was warm. *DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THAT. DO NOT EVER TOUCH A HEATSINK OR LIVE MOTHERBOARD AS YOU COULD GET A SERIOUS BURN OR OTHER INJURY! IT WAS NOT A SMART MOVE ON MY PART*

The fan appeared to be doing the job. Going back and loading the Curse of Strahd campaign that launch page graphic of Strahd holding a wine glass did load. It took a little while but it loaded.

Further experimentation revealed that while dynamic lighting didn’t work I was able to use fog of war. I was able to successfully reveal map areas and have them display on a TV using the RP3.

All in all I’m happy with the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. It’s a tough little computer for it’s small foot print. Is it the best option out there? No, it’s not. There are better devices to run Roll20 but for the cost of I think it is a good option.

You’ll need to keep your map size and resolution on the lower side of things. Dynamic Lighting probably won’t work but I find I can get around that with Fog of War. Otherwise you just let players see the map and add tokens as needed.

I am planning to build an Intel Hades Canyon NUC this summer after they are released this Spring of 2018. That NUC has a much more powerful processor and GPU in a compact case. It will be interesting to see how that handles the demand of the Roll20 Virtual Tabletop. Watch out for that review later this year!

In the meantime, I recommend using the RP3 for your virtual tabletop needs. It’s low cost and plethora of accessories makes it a versatile little computer.

I look forward to hearing about your experiences in the comments below!

Game on,

Greytome