A New Online Game Table

**Morrus** · 12th October 2012, 05:17 PM

This arrived in my inbox today - news of a new online game table called ... RPG Table Online. Well, the sending of a press release implies they're new - but they've been around about a decade, as they say in the release. I guess the press release is just a 'reminder' - still, it's a slow news day, so let's post reminders!

UPDATE - ah, OK. Explained in post on WotC messageboards here back in July! They existed, they got contracted to do WotC's gametable, WotC cancelled it as expected, they are releasing it anyway.

Remember when you used to get together with friends to play roleplaying game like Dungeons & Dragons®? The glory of assuming the role of a fantasy hero and dispatching vile monsters with your sword or spell, exploring the universe as a space mercenary, or saving the world as your favorite superhero. Then reality set in: school, jobs, kids of your own, friends moving away, and any host of commitments. GameTable Online Inc. (GTO) has launched RPG Table Online so you can play any role playing game on your schedule with friends and other gamers around the world by logging into www.rpgtableonline.com.

RPG Table Online provides for free all of the basic tools for game masters to run RPGs on the internet and for players to enjoy their campaigns: a dice roller, map & dungeon creator, character & monster token system, initiative tracker, campaign notebook, character sheets, and integrated voice chat. This cohesive toolset enables people from around the world to replicate the tabletop RPG experience as if they were gathered around the same table. Additional tokens, tiles, and backgrounds can be purchased to customize the RPG experience to your taste as you create your own adventure, world or universe. Getting started with the RPG Table Online is quick and easy so GMs and players can dive right into their adventures. The RPG Table Online runs on a free Java-based application that requires no downloaded client to play. Unlike other virtual tabletop game applications, no extensive knowledge or preparation is required to use the RPG Table Online to run an actual session. "We focused on making RPG Table Online intuitive to use and ready to play without additional setup beyond the usual prep to build an encounter or adventure," said Robert Eng, GTO's Vice President.

With 9 years of hosting online tabletop games at www.gametableonline.com, GTO is not a newcomer to the web game world. GTO has built up a game library of 29 board game titles to play through their multiplayer game platform. When users join RPG Table Online, they will also gain access to the GTO board games and be part of the active and established gaming community already gaming daily at GTO.

RPG Table Online is game-system agnostic so it can work easily with any game system and shortly GTO will launch an initiative for RPG companies to have a custom character sheet templates in the application, as well as tiles and backgrounds appropriate to their game. The starting set of art and tile tokens are fantasy themed. More themes and artwork from well-known artists are coming soon. RPG publishers and artists interested getting their work integrated with RPG Table Online can contact GTO at info@gametableonline.com.

**Stumblewyk** · 12th October 2012, 07:13 PM

This oddly resembles the canceled D&D Virtual Game Table.

Coincidence? Something more sinister?

**Morrus** · 12th October 2012, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by Stumblewyk

This oddly resembles the canceled D&D Virtual Game Table.

Coincidence? Something more sinister?

I think you might have your causality reversed; this thing is 9 years old.

**IronWolf** · 12th October 2012, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by Stumblewyk

This oddly resembles the canceled D&D Virtual Game Table.

Coincidence? Something more sinister?

I believe this is because Gametable online was the one contracted to do the VTT for Wizards. When Wizards announced they were dropping the VTT, Gametable Online was quick to say they would be transitioning it to rpgtableonline.

A thread from the Wizards boards:

The Virtual Table Moving to GameTable Online

**Stumblewyk** · 12th October 2012, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Morrus

I think you might have your causality reversed; this thing is 9 years old.

Originally Posted by IronWolf

I believe this is because Gametable online was the one contracted to do the VTT for Wizards. When Wizards announced they were dropping the VTT, Gametable Online was quick to say they would be transitioning it to rpgtableonline.

A thread from the Wizards boards:

The Virtual Table Moving to GameTable Online

I stand corrected then. I honestly can't say I bother keeping up on all the different online game tables out there, so I just saw the resemblance and use of Java as the delivery platform and found the coincidence strange.

Thanks for setting me straight.

**Lwaxy** · 12th October 2012, 08:57 PM

Ohh Robo Rally... now if they'd support user made rules, cards, elements and boards... and not keep crashing with Java

**Cergorach** · 12th October 2012, 09:51 PM

A very, very nontransparent service and website.

Very little is explained or shown and the couple of screenshots that are available are tiny. Not to mention that you have to create an account if you want to find out how much the GTO costs. A totally unattractive solution imho!

**Uller** · 12th October 2012, 11:33 PM

I've been using it since they transferred it from wizards to the new host. It's basically the beta VTT. They've fixed some bugs and what not. There are still a lot of features that need implemented or improved.

The thing I really like about it is that it's free for my players. I don't mind plunking down a few dollars per month to buy some icons and tiles as long as my players can log in and play from anywhere. Nothing to install and your adventures and characters are all online so you don't have to worry about transferring files from one place to another.

I've run through about 75% of Thunderspire Labyrinth with it and my son DMed Treasure of Talon Pass.

**mattcolville** · 12th October 2012, 11:37 PM

Does it still integrate with the WotC tools? The ability to import characters and monsters was awesome.

**Uller** · 13th October 2012, 04:46 AM

It does not integrate directly with DDI any longer (which I'm not sure why...I would guess that's a WotC call). You can import your PCs...export them from DDI to your hard drive then import them to your game table.

For some reason the same functionality does not exist for monsters. Fortunately, someone was smart enough to import all the monsters from DDI into a few blank adventures and then shared them. All you need is to subscribe to a premium account for a month and you can grab all the monsters (as of when RPGTO went online).

Not really sure why they don't import monsters that you export from DDI to your hard drive...they're just an XML file. Why would WotC provide the ability to export them if not for 3rd party tools to be able to import them.

Same goes with the 5e monsters...a few folks got together and put them all in a blank adventure.