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Hey I saw we did not have a virtual table top thread dedicated to the different available ways to play RPGs and other games over the WORLD WIDE WEB. This is a general thread for all virtual table top programs. If a program isn't listed , ask for it and I will include it in the op. What is Virtual Table Top ? Generally speaking its a web based or other program that allows you play RPGS over the net. Here are some programs to get you started Roll 20 : https://roll20.net/welcome , probably one of the most popular websites for playing all different types of games . It's web based. It supports a tremendous number of different games Foundry https://foundryvtt.com/ , this can basically be pretty much used for everything. From board games to RPGs Fantasy Grounds https://www.fantasygrounds.com/ , similar to role 20 but you are the actual server. Supports a myriad of different games. Owl Bear Rodeo https://www.owlbear.rodeo/ , I know basically nothing about this having only learned of it today IF there are ones that I missed please suggest and I will add them. Feel free to discuss any Virtual Table Top game in this thread, any system etc.. Maybe we can also use this for finding players. Also if you want something added to the initial post just request that. Also feel free to post questions in this thread and hopefully we'll be able to answer them. Hollismason fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Apr 25, 2024 |
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Apr 25, 2024 01:23
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I would suggest adding a link to VTTES - https://justas-d.github.io/roll20-enhancement-suite/ - To the OP. Or at least, it's here now as I've gotten the first post in. It's an extension for Roll20 that adds a whole bunch of useful functions, including letting you bypass their internal file storage for images. Just remember to upload them somewhere they'll stay up rather than discord, or you'll find your tokens vanish on you after a few days. I swear by it myself, although sometimes it can be easier to just upload them to r20 if you want to be very sure they'll stay around. Technically works on the Chromiums but will need manual updating, you're better off with firefox if you want it to handle itself.
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Apr 25, 2024 13:47
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Alchemy comes to mind https://alchemyrpg.com/ It runs as a desktop app (much like Fantasy Grounds) and supports a good amount of systems. A lot of smaller companies are now tying Alchemy support into their Kickstarters as a stretch goal. Who is supported? The big one is Free League. They have Alchemy support for Twilight:2000 4e,Mutant Year Zero, Forbidden Lands,Symbaroum, Dragonbane, Coriolis, Tales from the Loop, Vaesen, and Mork Borg, Rowan, Rook, and Decard's Eat the Reich is on the way, Humblewood, Kids on Bikes, City of Mists, Vampire, Masks,5e, Pathfinder 2e (the Kingmaker AP specifically is preset),and Modiphius just added the Fallout RPG. Is it any good? It is not as flexible in putting your own system in it (you basically can't), but it runs very smoothly, and looks great; the tools work well, and I have never had any connection issues (granted, I host on a stupidly fast fiber connection. Their marketplace has some very nice asset packs and stuff. How much? Free level lets you create 3 Characters, 3 Games, 1 'Universe' Subscribers get unlimited of all three for $8 mo/$88 yr Is it worth it? Maybe? I use Roll20 mainly because of its flexibility, but I really liked the integration of Tales from the Loop, and Coriolis when I ran them. LukasR23 posted:I would suggest adding a link to VTTES - https://justas-d.github.io/roll20-enhancement-suite/ - To the OP. I use VTTES constantly. It's great. I also use Roll20 Exporter Chrome Extension Here. This is a handy extension that will download all your assets from a Roll20 campaign and bundle them up as a handy zip file for archiving. Humbug Scoolbus fucked around with this message at 14:51 on Apr 25, 2024 |
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Apr 25, 2024 14:44
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Is there anything to the idea that, just like we don't need one universal RPG system to represent every kind of game, we also don't need one VTT? I ask this because my only experience with VTTs is roll20, and because our GM that's into VTTs uses it exclusively and would neve, ever, escape the sunk costs of tokens and whatever other assets he's created, not to mention the experience and knowledge of the program. It sounds similar to someone that wants to use one system for every game they run, but another part of me says that actually it's quite different and it's fine to do this, just like it's fine to only have discord for your VoIP needs regardless of what you're discussing or doing in the channel. For my part, I don't actually make use of a VTT currently, but if I did I'd prioritize something fundamentally open source, even if it's less feature rich, because I wouldn't want to, say, spend ten years in one program and then the company goes under or radically changes the monetization.
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Apr 25, 2024 15:07
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Jack B Nimble posted:Is there anything to the idea that, just like we don't need one universal RPG system to represent every kind of game, we also don't need one VTT? Yeah sunk cost is a huge part of why I use Roll20. I will say this though I'm very worried WotC is going to release their VTT and make it exclusive shutting out other VTTs
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Apr 25, 2024 15:30
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Cheers for the Roll20 exporter link! Wish I'd had this when I initially moved my PF2e game over to Foundry. So many tokens I had to grab from my barely-functioning laptop that I'd never backed up...
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Apr 25, 2024 15:58
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My group used Roll20 with D&D Beyond (with the Beyond20 browser plugin) and it worked mostly fine. Even after WotC releases their whatever-it-is, Roll20 and Foundry will still always be the go-to VTTs for anything other than D&D. I don't think losing that market share will affect their popularity much. Also Pathfinder's support in Foundry is amazing. There are plenty of rules systems supported in Foundry, but PF2's beggars them all. I use Roll20 to run all my indie one-off games (Fellowship, Sword World, even Lasers & Feelings). This is partly due to my own experience with it, but also because my players all know how it works and are used to its peccadillos. Having to teach my non-technical friends how to login to a Foundry instance or how to install Steam or whatever just makes me want to go back to the "login and let's play" ease of Roll20. I even got a Pro license so I could install mods and create new character sheets in their sandbox. Regarding other VTTs, there are several non-web-based apps and programs that could go in here too. These are all on Steam: Tabletop Simulator - more like "every tabletop game ever," but that includes TTRPGs, so ... Fantasy Grounds - full of half-assed DLC, and kinda basic, but it works Tales of Fablecraft - still in beta, a VTT that only supports its own proprietary game system. Impressive for what it does though The RPG Engine - Build intricate 3D maps and host them locally with a zillion chunky assets Talespire - same general idea as RPG Engine, but as a live service
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Apr 25, 2024 16:07
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Yeah I do t know if WoTC is going to pull support from Roll20. I'm nervous about it though.
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Apr 25, 2024 16:11
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I played around with AboveVTT a little, but haven't tried actually running a game with it. https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonsAndDragons/comments/mqx68w/easily_turn_dndbeyond_into_a_vtt_a_free_chrome/ It's a browser plugin that integrates with DnD Beyond.
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Apr 25, 2024 17:06
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Jack B Nimble posted:Is there anything to the idea that, just like we don't need one universal RPG system to represent every kind of game, we also don't need one VTT? Yeah, absolutely. Your open source considerations are one example. I’d also say that a complex battlemap game needs Roll20 or Foundry way more than something like a GUMSHOE game or Lady Blackbird. Roll20 is way too much overhead when I just want a way to store character sheets and flash cool visuals.
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Apr 25, 2024 18:00
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Pathfinder foundry users post ur mod lists Edit: please.
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Apr 25, 2024 18:16
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I use roll20 just as a music player and dice bot. I don't use the built-in character sheets or macros, I barely use the maps and I basically never use tokens. Maybe it's time to find a discord bot that plays music off my hard drive, or off google drive or something.Jack B Nimble posted:Is there anything to the idea that, just like we don't need one universal RPG system to represent every kind of game, we also don't need one VTT?
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Apr 25, 2024 19:07
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If you want a super simple low overhead and free VTT there's always MapTools https://www.rptools.net/toolbox/maptool/ This is seriously old-school, but it works. It, like Foundry, does not use an external host, the host is whoever is letting their machine act as the server, Humbug Scoolbus fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Apr 25, 2024 |
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Apr 25, 2024 19:20
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mellonbread posted:I hate having to create a new account for every website, especially if I'm only going to use it once. A "guest" login option to join someone else's game would negate all my complaints about new VTTs. I think this is what initially sold me on foundry. While I as a GM need to make an account, the people joining my game don't really need to do anything but have a computer that can handle it.
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Apr 25, 2024 19:20
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Do not let your local machine directly act as a server unless you have a VPN. Doing so is lowering yourself nude into a shark tank. Ngrok if you have to.
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Apr 25, 2024 20:21
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The problem with Foundry, and with most VTTs in general to a lesser extent, is that whichever VTT is best for you often comes down to 'has someone else made a module/character sheet for the system you're using?' If the answer is yes, great, it's probably a good VTT for your needs. If the answer is no, you're either out of luck or you'd better be a trained programmer if you want to make your own. (RIP Astral: overlaying form elements on character sheet pdfs was inspired) Foundry is particularly bad about this for two reasons. First, you have to set a module to make a room at all, whereas you don't need a character sheet to run a Roll20 room. Secondly, and much more annoying, Foundry has had some major revisions under the hood over last few years, and the efforts of the community to keep modules up to date and compatible with the most recent versions are... spotty, at best. Lancer, the #1 module people talk about when they bring up Foundry, will not work with the current version. Plenty of other modules throw errors left and right when the program tries to load them, as well.
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Apr 25, 2024 21:36
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:If you want a super simple low overhead and free VTT there's always MapTools https://www.rptools.net/toolbox/maptool/ I associate MapTools with wildly complex macro sets used for 4e Living Forgotten Realms games but I bet it’s perfectly good for just a map and tokens.
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Apr 25, 2024 21:46
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Also if anyone has some free links to map assets, etc, or even patrons, that's cool. I can add that to the op
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Apr 25, 2024 22:13
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Does anyone have any experience using a VTT with an iPad? I'm trying to upgrade my setup so I can use a VTT for my in person games and I'm trying to see if I can get away with using the equipment I already have. I have a laptop and a microsoft surface and they both seem to work OK, but last time I tried using roll20 on an ipad a couple of years ago it didn't really work. I also saw that Foundry seems to have issues running on ipad? This would be for a player view.
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Apr 26, 2024 03:06
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CHaKKaWaKka posted:Does anyone have any experience using a VTT with an iPad? I'm trying to upgrade my setup so I can use a VTT for my in person games and I'm trying to see if I can get away with using the equipment I already have. I have a laptop and a microsoft surface and they both seem to work OK, but last time I tried using roll20 on an ipad a couple of years ago it didn't really work. I also saw that Foundry seems to have issues running on ipad? This would be for a player view. I don't think a lot of VTTs work great on tablets unless they're SUPER simple. R20 makes my iPad run almost too hot to hold sometimes. (Though they're testing a new, less memory-hogging version which may lessen that in the future.)
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Apr 26, 2024 04:01
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The new Jumpgate builds of Roll20 work pretty drat well on my Fire HD10 at least.
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Apr 26, 2024 05:38
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I actually wanted to share this https://www.reddit.com/r/battlemaps/ I've found is a really good resource for maps
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May 3, 2024 14:20
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The Roll20 Activity for Discord beta is available for Pro members. It's extremely underwhelming. Essentially it plops a mini version of the regular R20 window in the middle of Discord and calls it a day. It doesn't even fill the entire available space. The only change that I could see is a new interface for the game session picker when you login. Whee. I'd hoped they would do something interesting with chat at least, but nope.
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May 3, 2024 14:57
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