Tabletop roleplaying began as a physical experience: people around a table, rolling dice, moving miniatures across a map and building a story together. Digital tools made the hobby easier to play across distance, but they also moved more of the experience onto laptops, tablets and virtual tabletops.
Doungim starts from a different question: why should players have to choose between the capabilities of digital tools and the feeling of a physical table?
“Virtual tabletops put the table inside the computer,” said A. Boush, co founder and CEO of Realm Kinetics Ltd. “Doungim puts the computer inside the table.”
The console is built around a horizontal display that becomes the map. Players roll physical dice on it and move real miniatures across it. A camera above the board reads dice rolls and can track the positions of miniatures. Fog of war, lighting, weather, sound and other digital effects can change around the physical pieces as the game develops.
A second screen faces the players. It can show the face of a character they are speaking to, another view of the environment, game information or a remote participant joining the session.
Doungim is also designed to respond to speech. Players can ask a rules question during a session, speak to characters in the story and hear them answer in their own voices. A Game Master can describe a new location, person or situation out loud and use the system to build it into the game.
The computer, camera, microphone and speakers are built into the unit, so the console does not depend on a separate laptop for its core functions.
The system can be used as an assistant to a human Game Master, leaving that person in control of the story and decisions, or it can run the game for a group that does not have a Game Master. It can also run a solo adventure for one player. Groups can play entirely around the same table, include remote players or mix the two.
Doungim is designed for tabletop roleplaying systems that use maps, miniatures and a rule set. Players can bring their own maps, assets and content, while the platform is also being built around a growing library of visual and game assets.
Accessibility features include captions on screen, text to speech options and controls for pacing and session length. The system is also designed to support play in more than one language.
Realm Kinetics is developing Doungim across hardware, software, manufacturing, character generation and narrative systems.
Kickstarter
Doungim was funded in under three hours and is live now. View the Kickstarter campaign (opens in a new tab).
About Doungim
Doungim is a tabletop roleplaying games console developed by Realm Kinetics Ltd in the UK. Its main display lies flat on the table and shows a digital game world while players use physical dice and miniatures. The system can assist a human Game Master, run a group game, or run a solo adventure, with support for remote players.
