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Hollismason posted:Yeah sounds good to me. I'll make it. I think Virtual Tabletop, Roll 20 , Fantasy grounds are the ones I can think of Owlbear Rodeo https://www.owlbear.rodeo/ Kenku FM may also be a good addition. https://www.kenku.fm/
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Apr 24, 2024 20:37
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Kenku FM definitely deserves mention, yeah. I started using it a couple months ago based on recommendations from around here, and it's held up very well. I wish the interface was closer to Windows Explorer - it feels very "mobile design" in a lot of ways, unfortunately - but it's still doing the job quite well.
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Apr 24, 2024 21:26
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I coulda sworn there already was a VTT thread, but it could just be the gin talking.
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Apr 24, 2024 23:21
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Okay so Foundry , Owlbear Rodeo, Roll 20 , Fantasy Grounds
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Apr 25, 2024 01:14
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Hollismason posted:Okay so Foundry , Owlbear Rodeo, Roll 20 , Fantasy Grounds For what system? Having tried Foundry, Roll20, and Fantasy Grounds over the years Foundry is better at almost everything, but I mostly play systems that have pretty decent module support (D&D 4E, LANCER, etc.) and benefit a great deal from automation and all the bells and whistles. Conversely if I just needed a dice roller and a way to get everyone on the same page quickly, I'd probably go back to Roll20 or check out Owlbear.
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Apr 25, 2024 01:24
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:For what system? Yeah I am not super familiar with Foundry. I'll add to the op as I get used it to. I use roll20.
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Apr 25, 2024 01:28
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I’ll also add Alchemy and Role to the list.
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Apr 25, 2024 02:00
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Feel free to post in the thread! I'm just now restarting Roll20 after about 4 to 5 years of not using it and everything is new and different.
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Apr 25, 2024 03:12
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I use Alchemy a bit
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Apr 25, 2024 05:27
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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.
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Apr 25, 2024 14:16
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I'll add Alchemy and role
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Apr 25, 2024 14:39
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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? This sounds like an excellent question to kick off discussion in the new thread.
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Apr 25, 2024 14:47
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Sunk cost is real for Vtt. I mean I've spent like several hundred dollars and I know thay I've had to buy the same product twice.
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Apr 25, 2024 14:59
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DalaranJ posted:This sounds like an excellent question to kick off discussion in the new thread.  I can't make the VTT thread because I didn't much enjoy the campaigns I played in or ran using a VTT; I'd be a terrible thread maker for it. I don't at all begrudge anyone who uses it, and my opinion would certainly change if I had to run remote games, but as it stands I'm just a semi disinterested outsider to VTTs. But I'll repost it there when the thread opens, absolutely.Edit - Oh! I didn't see that thread is up. Right, sorry.
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Apr 25, 2024 15:04
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tbh i would use one VTT for everything, and it would be Foundry, if Foundry weren't inexplicably missing a couple of really basic features (corner-to-corner ruler snapping, drag-and-drop token management without having to fuss with file structures, easy control over token/sprite layering) that its free competitors do just fine
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Apr 25, 2024 15:14
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As a GURPS enjoyer, Foundry is basically the only good VTT for it. If I was all in on Traveller i'd be using Fantasy Grounds, but the problem with FG is all the Traveller content comes with a book so they price it all like you're buying the PDF book but if you already have it it's a brutal pill to swallow to pay a lot of money to get everything baked in.
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Apr 25, 2024 15:17
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theironjef posted:When I was a kid a DM of a game I was in didn't like how quickly a fight went against a boss of his so he had the boss use his turn to take out a wand he was carrying and snap it in half. He was just starting to destroy loot because the DM was mad, it was a weird moment. Didn't even feel too out of character, like that particular warlord of the ogre clans just knew his number was up and he might as well spite his killers by pissing on his treasure before he went, but it was still pretty obvious what was going on. Pages back, but I can't stop laughing at this irl. "Oh yeah? You assholes want this poo poo?" *throws bag of holding into the fire* "I heard what you pricks did to the gnoll encampment" *wipes his rear end with a magic scroll* "well gently caress your precious treasure" *pours potion of enlarge down his pants and the characters have to find the ogre with huge tanuki nuts*
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Apr 27, 2024 02:48
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What thread is best to ask for TTRPG system suggestions? In particular I'm wondering if there's any systems (d20 or 5e compatible preferred) that have something like the "blind" mechanics feeling like in some Isekai anime where the player maybe picks a class or an archetype but they don't really know what abilities they get to have, and some can be rare or need certain conditions to unlock or can proc as a result of where you are and what you're doing or what monsters you've slayed or items/gear you're using and so on? This kinda aligns vaguely with roguelike mechanics where some maybe give you a choice of abilities on level up but it'd be nice if something more like how it is in anime like Solo Leveling.
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Apr 27, 2024 18:43
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Gamma World 7E has you build PCs from two randomly selected classes + a deck of additional, limited-use / rechargeable powers that aren't always available to you at the same time. That might get you some of what you're looking for, at least.
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Apr 27, 2024 18:58
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Raenir Salazar posted:What thread is best to ask for TTRPG system suggestions? In particular I'm wondering if there's any systems (d20 or 5e compatible preferred) that have something like the "blind" mechanics feeling like in some Isekai anime where the player maybe picks a class or an archetype but they don't really know what abilities they get to have, and some can be rare or need certain conditions to unlock or can proc as a result of where you are and what you're doing or what monsters you've slayed or items/gear you're using and so on? This kinda aligns vaguely with roguelike mechanics where some maybe give you a choice of abilities on level up but it'd be nice if something more like how it is in anime like Solo Leveling. This sounds like the sort of thing that sounds cooler in theory than it is in practice.
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Apr 27, 2024 19:14
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Silver2195 posted:This sounds like the sort of thing that sounds cooler in theory than it is in practice. I’ve played in a couple games like this. We got names, then after a while, attribute scores, then after a while started learning the systems. It felt like a lit RPG at times. It was frustrating for some of the systems minded players and requires a lot of folks to be ok with it in service to rp.
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Apr 27, 2024 19:30
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Silver2195 posted:This sounds like the sort of thing that sounds cooler in theory than it is in practice. I mean maybe, or maybe not, I'll see depending on what systems are available that meet these needs.
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Apr 27, 2024 23:40
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The old homebrew standby: if it doesn't exist, make it The more bespoke your requirements the less likely it is to actually exist. A system that isn't D&D 5e but theoretically compatible with it, that allows for blind and arbitrarily gated character development? Any ttrpg system has blind character development if none of the players except the GM have actually read the system. This sounds like you just need to write up a core rulebook's worth of custom classes, spells, and feats for 5e. Or you could just pick another system to run a game in, not tell anybody what it is, study up on it, and then take them into the system completely blind with them having no means of preparation ahead of time. And then create arbitrary gates to limit players from certain options until they find rare conditions to trigger. If this sounds like an insane ask for you it's because you've given yourself an insane ask to surmount.
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Apr 28, 2024 00:06
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Also mechanically emulating lit RPG, game-style isekai, and xianxia cultivation are all kind of perpendicular to the design goals of most existing ttrpgs. Those genres tend to be, let's face it, pretty naked wish fulfillment power fantasies and that's something you can accomplish through RP and fluff rather than hard mechanics. This is very funny because the entire appeal of these genres appears to be hard mechanics. But what they provide is the illusion of hard mechanical systems that exist solely to provide apparent justifications for a power fantasy. Protagonist stumbles onto a rare combination of skills that nobody else has figured out before, protagonist acquires a rare plant or elixir that allows them to skip a few steps in the arbitrarily designed power ladder, protagonist is given a cheat power in the process of getting sent over. Videogames that don't seem to be designed by anybody who actually knows how videogames are like, but allow the protag to far exceed their supposed peers because they're just that special. You won't find an existing system designed with those goals in mind but you can create a campaign experience emulating that variety of fiction yourself, with a bit of creativity and a group interested in playing along. If you're the GM of a high-crunch system you're already asking yourself to do that much footwork anyway.
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Apr 28, 2024 00:23
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Part of the reason to ask is to see what's out there even if it doesn't necessarily deliver what is "asked", obviously its a high ask as-is but that's just what the ideal is and of course a bunch of different systems might have overlapping mechanics and ideas I like or are close enough while having the benefit of being curated/playtested which I can try to cobble together.
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Apr 28, 2024 00:28
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If 5E/d20 compatible is a non-negotiable but loose condition, then I'd say going back to 4E might be a good solution to this. Not only would you get to pick what abilities the PCs unlock as they level up, you could also sprinkle in multiclassing feats to get closer to the archetypes you're looking for. You could also do things like delay 'subclass' benefits (e.g., the beast master part of beast master ranger) until PCs earn them. If it's got to be 5E, period, then controlling level-ups and assigning class levels (with multiclassing to reflect adherence to archetypes) and selections (like spells) might be the way to go if you don't want to create something new. However, I would take the cautions provided very seriously and make sure this is all OK with your players. First, there's the srbitrary nature of when PCs level up, and if they level up at different times that may be seen as unfair. Second, a lot of players like to plan out their characters, whether for RPing or powergaming reasons. Third, what do you do when your player hits 3rd level barbarian, looks at their character sheet, and says, "Totem of the Eagle? That sucks! It's worse than Totem of the Bear or Wolf in every possible way!" (I don't know if this is an actual or legitimate example; based on a half-remembered review of the 5E barbarian.)
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Apr 28, 2024 00:43
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The video game reference point for isekai/litrpg is primarily old school mmos, anything from MUDs to ff11. Games that were insufficiently documented and had regular updates changing the world, where it’s feasible someone could figure out a new gamebreaking strategy and keep it mostly to themselves.
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Apr 28, 2024 03:55
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https://www.reddit.com/r/VTT/ has a whole bunch of links to VTTs and guides about VTTs in the resources section. Cyanomys' Guide is still great, even if it's three years out of date at this point. On a slightly related subject, the Fragged games guy is currently crowdfunding the Fragged equivalent of COMPCON / Pathbuilder and it's already funded: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/fragged-ttrpgs/fragged-nexus-vtt-system-for-fragged-empire-2 Megazver fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Apr 28, 2024 |
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Apr 28, 2024 09:41
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Megazver posted:https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/fragged-ttrpgs/fragged-nexus-vtt-system-for-fragged-empire-2 That’s sort of a deceptive URL for that project, though I guess “a way to integrate into VTTs” could sort of be called a “VTT system”, and the page itself is quite clear.
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Apr 28, 2024 16:45
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Admiralty Flag posted:If 5E/d20 compatible is a non-negotiable but loose condition, then I'd say going back to 4E might be a good solution to this. Not only would you get to pick what abilities the PCs unlock as they level up, you could also sprinkle in multiclassing feats to get closer to the archetypes you're looking for. You could also do things like delay 'subclass' benefits (e.g., the beast master part of beast master ranger) until PCs earn them. I think I clearly said "preferred" not "non-negotiable", as I said systems that give me inspiration for potentially homebrewing or presents interesting ideas is fine too, I'm not necessarily looking for something I can plug and play, but that would be fantastic, but anything that could be even remotely of interest is of course fine too and I'll see what's there to scavenge. 4e I don't think offers the kind of gameplay I'm looking for to make the switch because I can basically do the same thing in 5e with more options. In general if I was to run something like this I would of course tell them, and also make sure that people don't get something that just objectively sucks in a "slot" that's otherwise meaningful.
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Apr 28, 2024 19:15
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I wouldn't say 5e is the "more options" choice, just playing unmodded BG3 would divest oneself of that impression (and Larian went out of their way to make the system much more tactically engaging than it is in tabletop! To take an example from earlier in thread, BG3 Totem of the Eagle whips incredible rear end while tt 5e Eagle is kind of underwhelming) but it's definitely the more streamlined one. And if you're adding your own complexity it's probably better to start with a simpler base you're familiar with. So 5e is fine. You could however consider the mechanical functions of the actions in 4e and porting those over. Especially movement, which wind up being one of the most important and interesting aspects of Lancer, which itself is functionally a D&D4E fork in the same way Tri-Ace games are evolutionarily a fork of the Tales of series.
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Apr 28, 2024 23:26
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Superhero games might be an interesting tool for this kind of thing, as they have a wide variety of abilities and often built in random tables for generating them. I don't know if there's a D20/5e superhero game that does that, but you can't go wrong with the old TSR FASERIP system*. I do think it's an interesting idea for a game though, despite not being a fan of isekai stuff. The idea of a sort of roguelike semi-random ability progression in a TTRPG is neat. I think you could also finesse something out of games that have sort of advancement "packages" like careers in WFRP (IIRC, I haven't looked at WFRP in 25 years). *You can go extremely wrong with FASERIP
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Apr 29, 2024 00:38
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Thanks I'll take a look at it! I'm definitely aware of the fact that the main issue is that lots of ideas sound good on paper for a video game, like a Randomizer run of Baldur's Gate 3, that might not be remotely as fun in the context of a D&D campaign that isn't like a One Shot because unless every session results in some kind of forward momentum and progression, and unless every progression "feels good" or like you're progressing, it might not be fun. In one campaign I'm in one of the people I'm playing with has like a homebrew magic item that gives them Blue Magic like from Final Fantasy so they've been gathering special abilties from enemies we fight, which is very cool, but that's on top of being a bard which they have to fall back on for their basic progression.
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Apr 29, 2024 01:03
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Cool Dad posted:Superhero games might be an interesting tool for this kind of thing, as they have a wide variety of abilities and often built in random tables for generating them. I think any game is probably fine with some element of character randomization as long as the campaign isn't exclusively prebaked combats. Having an oddball character built for flavor rather than optimization can be a lot of fun, but not if you're constantly getting thrown into turn based battles where your lack of mechanical power just makes everything take longer.
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Apr 29, 2024 03:38
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doesn't Strike! have a skill system that could fit this? on a good roll, a player can choose to gain a skill related to whatever they were attempting, which could be "swimming" or "brewing" but it could also be "fire resistance+1" or "eye of sin: envy" as long as everyone has a general idea of when it would apply to a roll.
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Apr 29, 2024 04:14
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Raenir Salazar posted:Thanks I'll take a look at it! I'm definitely aware of the fact that the main issue is that lots of ideas sound good on paper for a video game, like a Randomizer run of Baldur's Gate 3, that might not be remotely as fun in the context of a D&D campaign that isn't like a One Shot because unless every session results in some kind of forward momentum and progression, and unless every progression "feels good" or like you're progressing, it might not be fun. You're basically looking for something like D&D 4E but with the ability scores and feats ripped out, or the Sentinels RPG with progression. Some manner of deckbuilder could also work? Make up a bunch of basic cards and have a bunch of overpowered cards that you hand out to add alongside player chosen adds. That would give the kind of mystery unlock where it's not just about earning the card, it's also about drawing it. Maybe a rule where if you've played a card a couple of times you get some downpowered dupes because now it's just a thing you do but sometimes you still draw the Go All Out version. OK this has legs I think. Splicer fucked around with this message at 10:40 on Apr 29, 2024 |
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Apr 29, 2024 09:58
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Raenir Salazar posted:What thread is best to ask for TTRPG system suggestions? In particular I'm wondering if there's any systems (d20 or 5e compatible preferred) that have something like the "blind" mechanics feeling like in some Isekai anime where the player maybe picks a class or an archetype but they don't really know what abilities they get to have, and some can be rare or need certain conditions to unlock or can proc as a result of where you are and what you're doing or what monsters you've slayed or items/gear you're using and so on? This kinda aligns vaguely with roguelike mechanics where some maybe give you a choice of abilities on level up but it'd be nice if something more like how it is in anime like Solo Leveling. There are games that do that for chargen, but not usually actually in play.
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Apr 29, 2024 10:04
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Splicer posted:You want a system where builds aren't really a thing. You want isolated powers that just work (tm) so random-rolling the "wrong" one doesn't leave you with a useless skill that's a waste of a turn every time you use it. Then the being clever is working out play order. Yeah, agreed. Raenir, if you've been under the impression that D&D 4e has less choice than 5e, you might want to actually take a real look at the 4e PHB because having a selection of choices (like in a deckbuilder) every level is so much the definitive feature of 4e it drove people crazy how unabashedly gamey, rather than simulationist, it was. It gained a reputation for having fewer options compared to 3rd Edition, which is notoriously crunchy and imbalanced. Fifth edition was explicitly designed to have fewer meaningful options than 4E to make the experienced more streamlined and less fiddly. Panzeh posted:There are games that do that for chargen, but not usually actually in play. Yeah I've got a soft spot for Lifepath chargen systems but they're also wildly variable.
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Apr 29, 2024 10:07
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I can certainly see the appeal of "blind" character progression. You can see the concept being misapplied all through the various D&D games where they have classes like "Red Wizard of Thay", which is a specific geographical and social concept where you've got a certain social rank in a certain geographical place, but what you'd actually get is players going, "OK, my 7 warlock/8 bard/1 monk will take a two-level dip into Red Wizard of Thay to cherry-pick their best ability" and the GM either goes, "Wait, what, Thay isn't even in this setting, you can't do that" or accepts that the mechanics and fluff have nothing to do with each other, which feels like wasting the fluff.
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Apr 29, 2024 10:59
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Doc Hawkins posted:doesn't Strike! have a skill system that could fit this? on a good roll, a player can choose to gain a skill related to whatever they were attempting, which could be "swimming" or "brewing" but it could also be "fire resistance+1" or "eye of sin: envy" as long as everyone has a general idea of when it would apply to a roll. Yeah, if you attempt a skill and roll a 6, you can learn the skill. You could absolutely use that to be like a delayed randomized chargen. Start with no known skills, then see which things you roll 6s on to see what your character is good at. The modification I would make for this to really work well as a core chargen mechanic is that I'd let the players get creative and come up with powerful skills a limited number of times (once per level maybe), and to try to tie new powers in with previously established powers to make a thematic character. The usual rule: "I'm going to try and watch this guy when he enters the door code and see if I can catch the numbers. I don't have any skill for that, so I'll just roll unskilled. Oh, a 6! I can learn a new skill. Maybe something about perception or maybe something about stealth or being inconspicuous so I can get a good angle without being caught staring." Getting creative: "The guy carefully puts his hand around the pad so nobody can see the code, but suddenly I'm seeing right through it. Turns out I've got x-ray vision!"
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