I started with a gaming group last fall, using mainly google hangouts for voice/video. If one of us had to share a picture or map, we would just hold it up to the camera. One person would map, we all used real dice, had our own paper character sheets, etc. One step removed from an actual table. This works fine, especially for those with limited time. You can plan a 2-3 hour session even on short notice.

From there, we started using google docs/drive to share character sheets, standard actions (marching order, etc) and DM notes. These are neat because everyone can edit them at once.

I recently ran a session using roll20, and while the players and I liked it, I found the level of prep required was higher. Of course, for a long-term campaign, much of the prep is one-time, once you get the characters/tokens created, and the setting maps uploaded they are there for good.

Next time I run a one-shot I may try just using roll20 as a shared whiteboard, it is entirely possible to just draw freehand on a shared campaign screen, this avoids a lot of the extra prep work.

Thought I'd share a simple, one-page character sheet in the style of the old B/X sheets.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByYame2Z2IBCVHVIeXRsaUExazA/edit

You can print double-sided and cut in half for some poor-man's digest sheets.

This reminded me growing up I had Frazetta's "Frost Giant's Daughter" on my wall. I love his stuff. I haven't heard of Jeffrey Jones, I'll have to check him out.