What do I need to run a game?
Short version: BobbleHub, and three free programs that most streamers already have. It takes about fifteen minutes once, and BobbleHub checks all of it for you afterwards so there's nothing to remember.
Your players install nothing. They need Discord and a web browser. That's it.
If you're the GM#
| # | What | Why you need it | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BobbleHub | The app you run the show from | Yes |
| 2 | NDI | Moves video between BobbleHub and OBS | Yes |
| 3 | OBS Studio | Streams the show to Twitch or YouTube | Yes |
| 4 | DistroAV | A small add-on that lets OBS see the show | Yes |
| 5 | Discord | Voice for you and your players | Yes |
Install them in that order. Number 4 checks for numbers 2 and 3 when it starts, so doing it out of order is the one thing that causes a confusing result.
If you're a player#
You need Discord and a web browser. Your GM sends you a link, you open it, you allow your camera. Nothing to install, nothing to configure, nothing on this page applies to you.
Why so many programs?#
Because BobbleHub does one job well rather than three jobs badly.
It takes your players' cameras, cuts out their heads, and puts them on characters in a scene. It doesn't try to be your streaming software, and it doesn't try to be your voice chat — you almost certainly already have software you like for both, and it would be strange for a tabletop app to replace them.
So BobbleHub builds the show and hands it to OBS, which streams it. NDI and DistroAV are the connection between those two. Discord carries the voices, the way it already does for your table.
You may already be done#
If you stream at all, you likely have OBS and Discord. If you've used NDI cameras or streamed from two machines, you may have NDI too.
BobbleHub tells you rather than making you check. Open it, click Setup in the top bar, and it shows you what it found on your machine and links to anything it didn't.
How long this takes#
About fifteen minutes if you're starting from nothing, and most of that is downloads. You only do it once.
NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB. Learn more at ndi.video.