Play-by-post on Discord vs a dedicated site

Plenty of great play-by-post games run in chat servers like Discord. A dedicated site makes different trade-offs. Here's an honest look at both.

What a chat server does well

Your friends are probably already there, it's free, it's great for quick chatter and voice, and there are dice bots for rolling. For a small group that already lives in one server, it can be all you need.

Discord with Avrae

Many Discord groups add Avrae, a popular dice bot. It rolls dice with advantage, crits and more, reads character sheets from D&D Beyond and other sources to make quick attack and check commands, and tracks initiative, hit points and conditions in a channel. If your group already plays on Discord and keeps sheets on D&D Beyond, it's a strong combination.

What you give up

Everything is a stream of messages: the story, out-of-character chat, rolls and rules talk mix together and scroll away. Character sheets, maps and notes usually live in other tools, and someone has to keep them in sync by hand.

What a dedicated site adds

On Talewrite the story, the table talk and private whispers are separate, the character sheet does the math and rolls with the right bonuses, the battle map and initiative appear when a fight starts, and everyone gets one email when there's something new. You can also choose an AI Dungeon Master when nobody wants to run the game.

The trade-off the other way

It's one more place to check, and your group has to agree to move there. Many groups keep their chat server for hanging out and use the dedicated site for the game itself.

Price

Your first 25 posts are free. After that it's $9.99 once for lifetime access: keep playing and host your own games. Lifetime access isn't unlimited AI: it includes a one-time starter batch of AI for games you host, and after that hosts add AI credit or subscribe. Only the host pays for the AI, so players at an AI table never pay for it.

Questions

I use Avrae with a D&D Beyond character. Can I bring it?

Yes. Set the character to Public on D&D Beyond and import it with its link. Ability scores, levels, hit points, proficiencies, spells, gear and coins come across, and your sheet rolls with the right bonuses, like Avrae's commands do.

Can I bring my existing characters?

Yes. Build them in the step-by-step builder, or import a public character from D&D Beyond with its link.

Is there a group chat?

Each table has table talk for out-of-character chat, and the Lobby has public channels for finding players.

Is this Dungeons & Dragons?

Talewrite is 5th Edition compatible (2014 or 2024 rules, from the free System Reference Documents 5.1 and 5.2). It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.